فيدل كاستور يتنحي عن الحكم

الخبر في البي بي سي العالمية

Last Updated: Tuesday, 19 February 2008, 08:01 GMT
Fidel Castro announces retirement

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since his operation in July
Cuba's ailing leader, Fidel Castro has announced he will not return to the presidency in a letter published by official Communist Party paper, Granma.
"I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the Council of state and commander in chief," he wrote in the letter.

Mr Castro handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery.

The 81-year-old has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959.

In December, Mr Castro indicated that he could possibly step down in favour of a younger generation.

The National Assembly is scheduled to meet on 24 February to elect his successor.

Quote: استقال الزعيم الكوبي فيدل كاسترو من منصبي الرئاسة ورئاسة أركان الجيش في كوبا. جاء ذلك في رسالة نشرتها صحيفة جرانما الرسمية في موقعها على الانترنت. وقد كتب كاسترو في بيان بهذا الشأن "إلى مواطني الأعزاء الذين شرفوني بانتخابي عضوا في البرلمان ، أكتب إليكم لأقول إنني لا أتطلع ولن أقبل، وأكرر لا أتطلع ولن أقبل منصبي رئاسة مجلس الدولة ورئاسة أركان الجيش". ويأتي إعلان كاسترو البالغ من العمر 81 عاما لاستقالته بعد 19 شهرا من مرض دفعه إلى تسليم السلطة مؤقتا إلى شقيقه راؤول كاسترو. يذكر أن كاسترو الذي تجاوز الثمانين هو اطول رؤساء العالم بقاء في السلطة وعاصر تسعة رؤساء امريكيين. وتولى كاسترو الرئاسة عام 1959 بعد أن قاد الثورة الكوبية للإطاحة برئيسها فولجنسيو باتيستا وتبنى النهج الشيوعي في إدارة كوبا متخذا مواقف مناهضة للولايات المتحدة.

بي بي سي
آخر تحديث: الثلاثاء 19 فبراير 2008 08:00 GMT


كاسترو يعلن تنحيه عن رئاسة كوبا


جاءت الاستقالة بعد 19 شهرا من مرضه

استقال الزعيم الكوبي فيدل كاسترو من منصبي الرئاسة ورئاسة أركان الجيش في كوبا.

جاء ذلك في رسالة نشرتها صحيفة جرانما الرسمية في موقعها على الانترنت.

وقد كتب كاسترو في بيان بهذا الشأن "إلى مواطني الأعزاء الذين شرفوني بانتخابي عضوا في البرلمان ، أكتب إليكم لأقول إنني لا أتطلع ولن أقبل، وأكرر لا أتطلع ولن أقبل منصبي رئاسة مجلس الدولة ورئاسة أركان الجيش".

ويأتي إعلان كاسترو البالغ من العمر 81 عاما لاستقالته بعد 19 شهرا من مرض دفعه إلى تسليم السلطة مؤقتا إلى شقيقه راؤول كاسترو.

وكان كاسترو قد خضع في يوليو/ تموز من عام 2006 لجراحة طارئة في الأمعاء، وأكد المسؤولون الكوبيون مرارا بعدها أنه في طريقة للشفاء

يذكر أن كاسترو الذي تجاوز الثمانين هو اطول رؤساء العالم بقاء في السلطة وعاصر تسعة رؤساء امريكيين.

وتولى كاسترو الرئاسة عام 1959 بعد أن قاد الثورة الكوبية للإطاحة برئيسها فولجنسيو باتيستا وتبنى النهج الشيوعي في إدارة كوبا متخذا مواقف مناهضة للولايات المتحدة.

On the cover of Time, 1960

الاخ ثروت
صباحك خير

Quote: فيدل كاستور يتنحي عن الحكم

الحكم هو الذي تنحى عن فيدل كاسترو .

الا توافقني !!

c n n
updated 12 minutes ago
Castro resigns as president, state-run paper reportsStory Highlights
Fidel Castro announces resignation as Cuban president, commander in chief

Castro ceded power to brother Raul Castro in July 2006 after intestinal surgery

Castro's reign started in 1959, outlasted nine U.S. presidents

Next Article in World »




HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Fidel Castro announced his resignation as president of Cuba and commander-in-chief of Cuba's military on Tuesday, according to a letter published in the state-run newspaper, Granma.


Fidel Castro, shown in an undated file photo, took power in Cuba in 1959 and reigned with an iron hand.

1 of 2 Castro, 81, temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul Castro in July 2006 after undergoing intestinal surgery. He hasn't been seen in public since his surgery, but he has appeared in numerous videos and photos in state media.

The announcement of Castro's resignation appeared just before 3 a.m. on the Web site of the state-run newspaper.

The news is likely to send shock waves across the island and through the tens of thousands of Cuban exiles who have sought refugee in the United States.

In December 2007, a Cuban television news anchor read a letter reportedly written by Fidel Castro promising he would not "cling to office" or be an impediment to rising young leaders.

Castro took power in Cuba in 1959 and has ruled the island nation ever since, governing the first communist nation in the Western Hemisphere.

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Fidel Castro captured the world's attention and imagination at 32 when the bearded revolutionary led a band of guerillas that overthrew a corrupt dictatorship -- and then became an irritating thorn in Washington's paw by embracing communism and cozying up to the Soviet Union.

For the next 47 years, Castro reigned in Havana with an iron hand, outlasting nine American presidents and defying a punishing U.S. economic embargo designed to dislodge him.

Raul Castro is generally seen as more pragmatic and less inclined to deliver the kind of long-winded speeches for which his brother is famous.

Ordinary Cubans have wondered whether a permanent change in power in Cuba will lead to lower food prices, higher salaries and more freedom to travel

كاسترو زي ما قال ضرار الحكم تنحى عنه

راي ثورت شنو في طائفية كاسترو ؟؟



صباح الخير يا ثروت
سمعت قالو جايب الهواء لناس السعودية الحاصل شنو ؟؟

الصادق

Quote: الحكم هو الذي تنحى عن فيدل كاسترو . الا توافقني !!

فيدل كاستور عاصر تسعة رؤساء امريكان

و الان الحكم في يد شقيقه راؤول بشكل رسمي.

فالنتابع الاخبار. صوره و سيرته مسيطرة على التلفزيون.

تحاياي

بلا وانجلى
فضل البلا الاصغر شقيقه راؤؤل
والبلاء الاكبر وهو التسلط الشيوعي في كوبا

..

New York : Laughing off reports of an assasination plot in 1959

Havana, Cuba: A portrait of Castro taken a few days after the overthrow of Batista in January 1959

يعني محمد (فيدل ) و جانا شيخ محمد (راؤؤل )
ماعارفة الفرق شنو ؟؟؟؟

الاخت سحر
ذهب القيصر و جاء القيصر

و لا جديد

تحاياي

Quote: فيدال كاسترو فيدال كاسترو فيدال كاسترو (رويترز) ولد فيدال أليخاندرو كاسترو روز يوم 13 أغسطس/آب 1926 لأسرة ثرية من ملاك الأراضي. تلقى تعليمه في المدارس الكاثوليكية في البداية وكان مجدا في دراسته ومنح لقب أفضل رياضي وهو شاب عام 1944، ثم تخرج في جامعة هافانا عام 1950 بعد حصوله على درجة الدكتوراه في القانون. مارس مهنة المحاماة لمدة عامين وخطط للترشح لمقعد في البرلمان الكوبي عام 1952، لكن الإطاحة بحكومة كارلوس بريو ساكاراس على يد فولغنسيو باتيستا أرغمته على عدم الترشح. ثورته وفي عام 1953 حمل كاسترو السلاح ضد نظام باتيستا بعد رفض دعواه القضائية التي اتهمه فيها بانتهاك الدستور، وقاد هجوما فاشلا على ثكنات مونكادا العسكرية في سانتياغو دي كوبا وسجن ثم عفي عنه بعد عامين. عاش في منفى اختياري بالولايات المتحدة والمكسيك لمدة عامين ثم عاد إلى كوبا عام 1956 على رأس مجموعة قليلة من المتمردين أطلقت على نفسها "حركة 26 يوليو/تموز" وانضم إلى الزعيم الثوري أرنست تشي غيفارا وأطاح عام 1959 بحكم باتيستا الديكتاتوري. بداية خلافه مع الولايات المتحدة بدأ كاسترو خلافه مع الولايات المتحدة عندما أمم بعض الشركات الأميركية العاملة في كوبا. وفي عام 1960 بدأ يشتري النفط من الاتحاد السوفياتي لسد احتياجات السوق المحلي، وعندما رفضت شركات تكرير النفط الأميركية العاملة في كوبا تحسين شروط تكريرها للنفط وتوفيره في الأسواق أممها كاسترو، ما أدى إلى قطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية مع الولايات المتحدة وبدأت كوبا حينها التوجه ناحية الاتحاد السوفياتي. أيديولوجيته في فترة الحرب الباردة كان كاسترو يصر على أن أيديولوجيته كوبية خالصة وكان يقول إنه "لا يوجد شيوعية ولا ماركسية، بل ديمقراطية نموذجية وعدالة اجتماعية في ظل اقتصاد منظم". معركة خليج الخنازير أصبحت كوبا ساحة قتال إبان الحرب الباردة بسبب التقارب بينها وبين الاتحاد السوفياتي. وفي أبريل/نيسان 1961 قادت الولايات المتحدة محاولة فاشلة لإسقاط حكومة كاسترو بتجنيدها جيشا خاصا من المنفيين الكوبيين لغزو الجزيرة. وفي خليج الخنازير مني الغزاة بهزيمة منكرة وقتلت القوات الكوبية كثيرا منهم وأسرت ألفا آخرين. أزمة الصوايخ الكوبية وبعد عام على محاولة الانقلاب الفاشلة رصدت طائرات الاستطلاع الأميركية صواريخ سوفياتية متجهة إلى مواقع في أميركا، الأمر الذي أصاب العالم بالفزع من الانزلاق إلى حرب نووية شاملة. ووقفت القوتان العظميان وقفة الند للند، لكن الزعيم السوفياتي خورتشوف بادر بسحب الصواريخ من كوبا في مقابل سحب الأسلحة الأميركية من تركيا. محاولات اغتياله ومنذ ذلك الوقت أصبح كاسترو العدو الأول للولايات المتحدة، وحاولت الاستخبارات الأميركية اغتياله أكثر من 600 مرة كما جاء على لسان أحد الوزراء الكوبيين. وكان من بين الأفكار الغريبة لاغتياله محاولة جعله يدخن سيجاره المفضل وهو محشو بالمتفجرات. علاقته بالاتحاد السوفياتي زاد اعتماد كوبا على الاتحاد السوفياتي الذي ضخ أموالا إلى الجزيرة واشترى محصول قصب السكر مقابل عودة السفن إلى ميناء هافانا محملة بالسلع الأساسية عوضا على الحصار الأميركي. ولكن رغم اعتماده على المساعدة الروسية كان كاسترو أحد أعمدة حركة عدم الانحياز التي تأسست حديثا في بدايات حكمه. دعمه الثوار الماركسيين رغم إعلان كاسترو انضمامه إلى حركة عدم الانحياز فإنه انحاز إلى جانب الثوار الماركسين في أنغولا وموزمبيق في السبعينيات حيث أرسل قواته لدعم القوات غير النظامية هناك. رفع الدعم السوفياتي عنه كانت فترة الثمانينيات شديدة الوطأة على ثورة الرئيس كاسترو بسبب رفع موسكو دعمها عن الاقتصاد الكوبي عندما رفضت أخذ محصول السكر في وقت كان الحصار الاقتصادي الأميركي يشتد على كوبا يوما بعد يوم. وضاقت على الشعب الكوبي الأرض بما رحبت، وفي منتصف التسعينيات فاض الكيل بكثير من الكوبيين الذين فروا أفواجا في قوارب متداعية إلى ولاية فلوريدا الأميركية وغرق منهم الكثير. وتأثرت شعبية كاسترو بهذه الأحداث. علاقته بقادة أميركا اللاتينية نجح كاسترو في توطيد علاقة بلاده بالكثير من قادة دول أميركا اللاتينية الرافضين للهيمنة الأميركية وفي مقدمتهم رؤساء فنزويلا والبرازيل الذان يعتبران من أهم وأقوى دول هذه القارة. انجازاته خلال فترة حكم كاسترو خطت كوبا خطى واسعة في مجالت عدة منها الرعاية الطبية التي أصبحت في عهده مجانية للجميع، وانخفضت معدلات وفيات الأطفال حتى أصبحت قريبة جدا من الدول الغربية المتقدمة، وكذلك في مجال معرفة القراءة والكتابة التي وصلت نسبتها إلى 98%. توجهاته الديمقراطية في المقابل عانت كوبا في ظل حكم كاسترو من ضيق هامش الديمقراطية حيت يتم تضييق الخناق على المعارضة وتفرض رقابة على العديد من وسائل الإعلام، وتوثق كل عام تقارير المنظمات الدولة لحقوق الإنسان حالات اعتقال وتعذيب لمن يوصفون بأعداء النظام. هناك من الكوبيين من يمقتون كاسترو وهناك أيضا في المقابل آخرون كثيرون يحبونه ويعتبرونه "داود الذي صمد في وجه جالوت أميركا". المصدر: الجزيرة

Cuba, Havana: Castro meets the press in June 1961 after increasing the ransom for the 1,173 prisoners captured by Cuban forces during the Bay of Pigs invasion. The men were finally released in December 1962 in exchange for $53m worth of medical supplies

ومتي يتنحي ال فيدل بن كاسترو في كل مكان?
الاتخشي يارجل علي حجب منبرنا في كوبا وأنت تتهجم علي ولي العهد راؤول - الذي أصبح- رئسا?
ماذا لو جرب كاسترو السودان عمر البشير- مرة أخري- حجب الموقع عن
السودان وجاءنا من أقصئ المدينة رجل يسعي صارخا ياقوم مالكم وحكام
السودان? أتركوهم لحالهم يتركوكم !! ياقوم أن معارككم مع قياصرة
السودان سوف تؤدي لحجب الموقع وحرمان بورداب السودان!!!
oo ..لاتحلموا بعالم سعيد فخلف كل قيصر يموت قيصر جديد!!!!
قد يقول لسان حال ثروت بلي هذا يحدث في الدنيا القديمة أما هنا
فتلتهب الحناجر عن أمكانية الحلم وتحقيقه !!!yes we can
ولكن هناك أيضا بقية قيصيرية هنا أيضا تجسدها عقليات بوش ومكين واليمين المحافظ !!!!
ولكن العزاء أن كلمات أسبارتوكس لاتقيدها الجغرافية وأنما تنطلق
في أسفير يصعب تقييده ويستحيل الجامه فأصرخوا ترتعب القلاع !!!....
كمال

حمد لله علي السلامة

وبرضو عندهم الحكم يورث
قاتل الله التوريث
كاسترو قعد رئيسس 50 سنة واخوه سيكمل الباقي

هل يا تري الشعب الكوبي هذا ام الشعب الكاستروي

ماساة الدكتاتورية بوجوهها المتعددة

عقبال ازاحة صنم السودان والاصنام المجاورة

Castro: love him or hate him






James Sturcke


February 19, 2008 12:04 PM

The Guardian



Idolised and reviled in more or less equal measure, Fidel Castro leaves few people unmoved

To many - particularly those who had land and property taken and fled overseas, fearing persecution he ranked somewhere close to the antichrist

Many of those people will no doubt be celebrating today, but others applauded his attempts to construct a socialist ideal that prided itself on education and health systems rivalling those of far richer countries

I spent two weeks in Cuba in 1999, and found it to be one of the most enchanting places I've visited

Both on and off the main tourist trail, people's default setting was almost invariably a smile. Strangers appeared to have a genuine interest in talking to you, and were keen to introduce you to friends or some aspect of Cuban life

Music and dancing could be found in restaurants and homes and on street corners

Some people, after a while, cautiously admitted to having complaints against the government, yet there did not appear to be any groundswell of movement against Castro or sense of growing unrest

But there was undoubtedly poverty. It was faintly amusing the first time a taxi driver turned off his engine going downhill to save petrol, but illustrated the desperate shortage of everyday goods taken for granted in all but the most sickly of countries

And friends of mine have alarming stories to tell about their Cuban acquaintances receiving threats - and worse - during night visits from the police

The resignation of such a totemic ruler as Castro will almost certainly lead to sweeping change within Cuba

Will it be able to retain its charm and sense of independence while improving the wealth and basic human rights of those lucky enough to live there?

Quote: راي ثورت شنو في طائفية كاسترو ؟؟ صباح الخير يا ثروت سمعت قالو جايب الهواء لناس السعودية الحاصل شنو ؟؟

يا ود العمدة راي فيها زي راي في طائفية عبد الرحمن المهدي

تتعدد الطائفية و الخراب واحد.

ما عندي مشكلة مع ناس السعودية. كتبت بوست عن ظلاميات السعودية و مفرخها الفكر الوهابي. بكري مسحو. مافيهو اي شيئ من قريب او بعيد يمس السودانين المقيمين هناك.
ما عارف الحساسية جات من وين.
انا اكاد اجزم باستحالة حجب الموقع من السعودية.
و اكرر لم و لن اقصد سوداني السعودية بسؤ او غيره.

سلامات ود العمدة

عادل

Quote: بلا وانجلى فضل البلا الاصغر شقيقه راؤؤل والبلاء الاكبر وهو التسلط الشيوعي في كوبا

صائب!

ذهب كاسترو و جاء راؤول(راؤول يحكم منذ عامين نسبة لمرض فديل) و من قبل ذهب كميل سونغ جاء ابنه. ذهب خالد البكتاش في سوريا جاءت زوجته على قمة الحزب الشيوعي. و لو امتد الوضع بشاوسسكو لجاء بزوجته او ابنه.
البلى الحقيقي في النظام الشمولي المتخلف نفسه و ليس شيئ اخر.

تحاياي

كمال

Quote: ومتي يتنحي ال فيدل بن كاسترو في كل مكان? الاتخشي يارجل علي حجب منبرنا في كوبا وأنت تتهجم علي ولي العهد راؤول - الذي أصبح- رئسا? ماذا لو جرب كاسترو السودان عمر البشير- مرة أخري- حجب الموقع عن السودان وجاءنا من أقصئ المدينة رجل يسعي صارخا ياقوم مالكم وحكام السودان? أتركوهم لحالهم يتركوكم !! ياقوم أن معارككم مع قياصرة السودان سوف تؤدي لحجب الموقع وحرمان بورداب السودان!!! .....لاتحلموا بعالم سعيد فخلف كل قيصر يموت قيصر جديد!!!! يقول لسان حال ثروت بلي هذا يحدث في الدنيا القديمة أما هنا فتلتهب الحناجر عن أمكانية الحلم وتحقيقه !!!yes we can ولكن هناك أيضا بقية قيصيرية هنا أيضا تجسدها عقليات بوش ومكين واليمين المحافظ !!!! ولكن العزاء أن كلمات أسبارتوكس لاتقيدها الجغرافية وأنما تنطلق في أسفير يصعب تقييده ويستحيل الجامه فأصرخوا ترتعب القلاع....

كلام ما بعقب بسهولة

ما مصير الحزب و النظام بعد كاسترو؟
نورنا
تحاياي

Cuba: A photograph taken in 1957 during the guerrilla war against the dictator Fulgencio Batista, shows Castro (2nd from r) and his brother Raúl-kneeling

.....

Santiago, Cuba: A picture taken in 1940 shows Castro (r) eating a lollipop at his school, Nuestra Señora de Dolores



I have spent quite a bit of time in Cuba in the last few years and have found a very complicated society that has many great points and very bad secrets

However, speaking to many, many, ordinary Cuban people, the overwhelming feeling is not of anger towards Castro, but of understanding. Clearly it has been a huge task to make this island run in the face of the USA's crippling embargo, and to achieve an enviable national health system, one of the highest rates of literacy in the Western World and one of the lowest infant mortality rates is definitely a superb legacy

Whatever the failings, which are many, it simply cannot be looked at in as black and white a way as some, especially in the US, do

By and large a day to day problem for the younger Cubans is that they are relatively comfortable, healthy, educated but unchallenged. From what they have told me the system there allows you to essentially make the same money whether you choose employment or not, and so you have alot of young people aching to acheive their potential with no means of doing so and consequently opting out

There is a lot of love for Castro, and I don't believe any of it was faked for my benefit, but also the feeling that he is out of step with the changing times. Initatives like employing effectively a "tourist only" currency of US dollars, whilst the population used Cuban peso's was a complete disaster and led to the madness of people begging for dollars that could only buy them a pack of gum, whilst there were stores in Havana selling $600 Fridges, that could only be bought by those having dollars sent over by their relatives in Miami

One thing that struck me was a documentary recently about the hundreds of underprivileged American medical students (mainly Black or Hispanic)every year who cannot afford to study in their own country and are trained, for free, in excellent Cuban medical schools, then allowed to fly back and practice in the land of the free

He should probably have left 10 years ago or more, but it would be a tragedy if the US smear his name in the history books completely, his legacy is one of glorious triumphs and
tragic falls, but it is a complicated, unique country and it has taken a complicated, unique leader to take them away from being merely America's playboy Island in the sea and give them an important identity, which hopefully can be built on for the betterment of the lives of regular Cubans

The pressure should now be on the US by the rest of the world to stop it's pathetic policy and remove the embargo against an Island that poses no threat

A Fidel Castro poster in the Sierra Maestra mountains, on the path to the hideaway from where Castro and his group organized the Cuban revolution in 1953

Havana. 1963. A man selling posters of Lenin and Fidel Castro, in front of the University of Havana

Like all great revolutionaries, his highest point was the revolution, after that he became dated and locked in the sixties. Should have handed over power earlier

He did however have some great achievments namely healthcare and education. Also the Bay of Pigs of course! Has been working towards impossible communist utopian ideals

All in all a memorable statesman. The end of an era

Timeline: Fidel Castro


Aug 13 1926: Fidel Castro Ruz born in Biran, Eastern Cuba

July 26 1953: Castro launches armed struggle against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. But attack on Moncada barracks fails

Sept 1953: Castro is sentenced to fifteen years, making famous 'history will absolve me' speech from the dock

May 1955: Batista grants amnesty to Castro, who goes to Mexico to plot invasion of Cuba

Dec 2 1956: Castro and 82 other rebels land at Playa Las Coloradas in Granma yacht. Cuban army easily outnumbers and rout rebels, but survivors take refuge in Sierra Maestra mountains and launch guerrilla war

Dec 28 1958: Fall of Santa Clara, after rebel attack led by Che Guevara. Batista troops end military resistance

Jan 1 1959: Batista flees to Dominican Republic as the rebels take power

Jan 8 1959: Castro enters Havana following triumphant procession through island from east of Cuba

Oct 19 1960: United States begins partial economic embargo

Jan 3 1961: Washington breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba

April 16 1961: Castro declares Cuba a socialist state

April 19 1961: Bay of Pigs invasion. CIA-backed Cuban exiles are defeated

Feb 7 1962: United States imposes full trade embargo on Cuba

Oct 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis. After thirteen day standoff, Russians withdraw missiles from Cuba.

Oct 9 1967: Che Guevara killed by Bolivian troops seeking to emulate Cuban-style revolution in South America

Sept 1 1977: Resumption of limited economic ties between Cuba and United States

Apr-Sept 1980: Mariel Boatlift. Cuba allows mass exodus of about 125,000 citizens to the United States, many leaving from the Mariel port west of Havana

Aug 14 1993: Havana ends ban on use of dollars

Aug 1994: Raft Crisis. More than 30,000 Cubans flee island on flimsy boats, many perishing in shark-infested waters between Cuba and Florida. Washington and Havana sign migration agreement to stem exodus and allow minimum of 20,000 legal entry visas per year for Cubans

March 12 1996: The Helms- Burton law - allowing the United States to penalise foreign companies investing in Cuba - is signed into law by President Clinton

Jan. 21-25 1998: Visit of Pope John Paul II, who condemns the US embargo and calls for greater freedom on the island

Jan 1 1999: Castro celebrates 40 years in power

Nov 1999 - April 2000: Elián González affair dominates Cuba-US relations. Elián is eventually returned to his father in Havana

June 25 2001: Castro has to be helped off stage after near collapse at open-air rally outside Havana

July 27 2001: Castro leads crowd, estimated at 1.2 million, in parade to celebrate the Cuban revolution and demonstrate against the US blockade. Castro prepares to celebrate 75th birthday in August

December 16 2001: Shipments of corn and chicken arrive in Havana harbour, the first direct US food sales to Cuba in nearly 40 years

March 6 2003: Castro is elected by parliament to sixth five-year term as president of Council of State – Cuba's governing body

March 18 2003: A crackdown by Cuba on dissidents alleged to be working with the US sees 75 sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years

October 20 2004: Following a speech, Castro trips and falls, shattering his left kneecap and breaking his right arm highlighting his old age

November 2004: Cuba releases half-dozen political prisoners including dissident writer Raúl Rivero, in a move widely seen as intended to court favour with the European Union

February 2 2005: Castro calls President Bush "deranged" for referring to Cuba as an outpost of tyranny

July 27 2006: A four-hour Revolution Day speech urging Cubans to have patience as electrical problems are solved marks Castro's final personal appearance as president

July 31 2006: Younger brother, Raúl Castro, is temporarily handed power after Fidel recovers from an operation for gastrointestinal bleeding

August 13 2006: Birthday celebrations for Castro's 80th are postponed until December to give him more time for recovery

December 2 2006: Castro fails to appear at military parade marking the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces and does not attend any of his birthday celebrations

March 28 2007: The first of a series of essays called Reflections of the Commander-in-Chief are written by Castro voicing his opinion on international affairs while he remains off the public stage

June 18 2007: Castro's sister-in-law, Vilma Espín – Raúl's longtime wife and former fellow rebel fighter dies aged 77

August 13 2007: Castro turns 81 and fails to appear in public again

October 14 2007: Live broadcast of telephone from Castro to ally Hugo Chavez who tells him: "You will never die."

December 18 2007: Castro publishes essay saying he doesn't intend to hold onto power forever and will not obstruct the path of a younger people coming to power. Repeats this idea in a letter to parliament 10 days later

Jan 20 2008: Castro re-elected to parliament opening possibility that he could remain as president

February 19 2008: Castro resigns as president but says he will remain in parliament

شكرا الاخوان نيازي و مهاجر
على الإضافة

تحاياي

Cuba's President Fidel Castro (R) and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) gesture during an event in Havana, April 3, 1989

العزيز ثروت
كلام ما بعقب بسهولة

Quote: ما مصير الحزب و النظام بعد كاسترو؟ نورنا تحاياي

...... من ناحية المبدأ فلاخلاف حول الديموقراطية والتعددية ودولة المؤسسات
وتداول السلطة وأختيار النظام الاقتصادي الذي يناسبهم......
....ولكن من الناحية الواقعية ....لابد لنا أن نتعرف أكثر علي أفكار
راؤؤل هل له الاستعداد للتغير والتغير ومواكبة معطيات العصر أم لازال
منكفئ في تلك محطة النصف الاول للستينات هل بأمكانه فتح كوة لتحول
ديموقراطي بالقدر الممارس في أميركا اللاتنية وفتح المجا ل لدور المبادرة
الفردية والقطاع الخاص جنبا لجنب مع القطاع العام ?
أم هل بأمكانية السير في طريق أشتراكية ديموقراطية وعدالة أجتماعية
تؤمن علي دور القطاع الخاص والمنافسة ويتغير الحزب الي حزب يواكب التغير ?
.....أم تراه سيلعب دور غورباتشوف أخر يفكك كل البني القائمة? أم ستكون الكلمة الاخيرة للجماهير فهل هي جاهزة الان? ?
! !! let us wait and see
كمال

Quote: حمد لله علي السلامة وبرضو عندهم الحكم يورث قاتل الله التوريث كاسترو قعد رئيسس 50 سنة واخوه سيكمل الباقي هل يا تري الشعب الكوبي هذا ام الشعب الكاستروي ماساة الدكتاتورية بوجوهها المتعددة عقبال ازاحة صنم السودان والاصنام المجاورة

ماساة الشعب الكوبي الذي سرقت امانيه و توجر بمشاعره.

فاودعت الجزيرة عند ديكتاتور متجبر حكمها كما يحكم الراعي غنمه. فاتها ما فاتها من حضارة اليوم.
حتى تقلصت احلام المواطن الكوبي في كيف يحول سقف بيته بليل إلى قارب يبحر به مسافة 90 ميل لشواطئ فلوريدا. و أن كان غير القليل تلتهمه اعماق المحيط او سمك القرش او ضعف المعرفة بالملاحة فيضيع في لجج ما لها من حدود إلا التهلكة.
و كمان وراثة!!
هذه هي العدالة الاجتماعية..عدالة في العذاب و ليس غير.

سلامات صبري

الاستاذ ثروت
نهارك سعيد ..استاذنك في الادلاء بقرأتي للحدث
حتماً السؤال المتداول عالمياً هو: ثم ماذا بعد كاسترو؟
والاجابه تكمن في طريق ذو إتجاه واحد .. الإنتظار
ايام,شهور ,او لسنين ربما!!!!
وذلك وفق الاعتبارات ..
1/ كاريزمية كاسترو ..
2/قناعات الشعب الكوبي وبالاخص اجيال ما بعد 1959
3/ شخصية راوؤل وقدرته علي حمل مفاتيح الدرع الكاستروي
ضد الاختراقات الخارجيه ومقاومة الاعاصير القادمه بالاخص
الامواج الامريكيه .
لك الود ..

Havana. A clasping handshake between Cuban leader Fidel CASTRO and Yugoslavian President TITO. September 1979

USSR. Moscow. 1961. During the height of Soviet-Cuban cooperation, Nikita KHRUSHCHEV welcomes Fidel CASTRO at the podium of the Kremlin overlooking Red Square

Santiago, Chile: Castro speaks to the Chilean president Salvador Allende in November 1971

شكرا محمد عمر لإغناء البوست

الاخ العزيز/ ثروت
لك التحية

والله قلت نسلم عليك بمناسبة رحيل كاسترو بجسده عن سدة الحكم ، و ان نقول له بعد ايه بعد ما ضيعت قلب البلد الكنت فيه؟ ياخي اسوا سؤات النظم الشمولية الدكتاتورية ، التوريث في نظام جمهوري؟ وفي القرن الواحد وعشرين؟! مما يعني الفوضي والعبث الكامل بكل ما لدي الشعوب من قيم كل القيم والتقاليد و.....وا...الخ؟ بل يستدعي الامر بالشعوب ان يقوموا بالتنفيذ الحرفي لما دعا اليه السيد/ عادل امام في مسرحه الواقعي ( الزعيم) وان يهبوا زرافات الي الانتحار الجماعي، ويخلوهم بعة يمشوا السعودية بعة ولا تورابورا ولا الي الجحيم؟ يا اخي دي نيلة منيلة في ستين الف نيلة!!
والله كاسترو وحاشيته واخوانا المعانا ديل وكل الدكتاتوريون والشموليون اليوم، هم الاولي والاحق بغوانتينامو بيي من اي اخر مهما كان جريمته. وهذا ليس تهاونا مع الارهابيون، والافكار الدينية الحاضنة لهم ولكن في اعتقادي ان الارهاب الاسلاموي في الاساس اما وليدة القمع الدكتاتوري والانظمة الشمولية؟ او الاثنان صنوان فلا يوجد احدهما في مكان ما الا والثاني رديفه؟
وبمناسبة مسرحية الزعيم لعادل، لدي اصدقاء ليبيون عندما شاهدوا المسرحية لاول مرة اقسموا بان عادل امام لم يمثل احد قط غير القدافي؟ قلنا لهم لماذا عشان لبسته البيضة دا ولا ايه؟ قالوا لا وانما هذا الزعيم، متغطرس، وقح، متعجرف، نذل، جاهل، وسلسلة من البذاءات كلها يجسدها شخص القدافي؟ وقلنا لهم: طيب ما تنتحروا حارسين ايه؟ ماهو دا القاعدة التي توصل اليها عادل امام خارجا عن النص؟ حاجة تجنن وتحنن في ان معا؟ والله الان يتخيل لي ان القدافي قاعد يقول لهم كل يوم موتوا بغيظكم ايها الجبناء؟ او كما هو حالنا مع هؤلاء، حيث انهم كل يوم اعدادهم بيزيد ويزدادون غطرسة ونهب ثم السمسرة؟
اما التوريث كما حدث للسيد بشار النعجة (اسم العائلة الحقيقية) فكانت صدمة في الفكرالسياسي ونظم الحكم، في القرن الواحد و العشرين، ولكن هناك جماعة ابوالرقيع الركيع ، تراهم يركعون لكل نظام ، ولكل من هب ودب لتسلق السلطة فهم، جاهزون بالطبع لشرخ الدستور والقانون والشريعة ظاطو-حسب تعبير هباني – يتم شرخه ورقعه، لان الضرورات تبيح المحظورات ، ومن ثم الركوع ثم الركوب معا، ابد الدهر علي جثث الشعوب. او كما هو ماثل امامنا من حالات، بغيضة وممرضة لدرجة يستدعي الانتحار الجماعي بالطبع.
وقبل كم يوم وعبر قناة الجزيرة كان السيد الوريث بشار في طريقه الي مجلس ابوالرقيع
بتاعوا، وكان منقول عبر البث الحي بطريقة غريبة، ويدعوا عاجلا الي ما هو مذكور باعاليه، حيث ان اعضاء/ المجلس الموقر قد وقفوا في حالة ركوع وقوفا بالتصفيق الحار جدا جدا بينما كان السيد/بشار يهبط من سيارته في الساحة امام مبني السادة ابوات الرقيع؟ ولقد قضي مايزيد عن الربع ساعة وهو خارج المبني، حيث قام باداء تحية السلام الجمهوري الوراثي ايضا ، ومن ثم صافح مستقبليه وبعض حراسه في الخارج، بينما ابوالرقيع في داخل القاعة قد رقعوا وركعوا بالتصفيق الحار قرابة نصف الساعة قبل دخول سيادته القاعة وهو في الشارع؟ امر محير حقا؟! وكانهم في حالة تنصيب رئيس جديد؟ وحتي لو مراسيم تنصيب جديد ايضا لايمكن التصفيق له بتلك الطريقة المذلة للسلطة التشريعية، وهو في الخارج في الشارع؟ ولكن هنا السلطة الترقيعية، الذي يملكه هو وبالوراثة ايضا.
مع خالص شكري وتقديري

الاخ ابارو

Quote: نهارك سعيد ..استاذنك في الادلاء بقرأتي للحدث حتماً السؤال المتداول عالمياً هو: ثم ماذا بعد كاسترو؟

قد يبدو سوال طبيعي في حالة الإخلاء الطبيعى لمصنب قيادي حساس. و اكثر طبيعية عندما تترفع الحساسية لمستوى رئيس جمهورية او موقع تنفيذي دستوري.
و لكن لسؤال في حالة كاسترو مغزي إضافي. هو القائد و الزعيم لكوبا في حياية جيل كامل. و هو الاوحد اي لا يعرف الناس له نظير او مساند، مستشار او وزير له وجه و توجه يمكن ان يشار له بالاختلاف و المغايرة.. فهو الممثل الوحيد في المسرح. و اي انهم مجموعة من ال Yesmen لا حولة لهم و لا قوة. ومن ورائه حزب مهمته الصفقة و التجسس على الجيران و رفع التقارير و يمختومة بعبارة: كل شيئ على ما يرام.

عندما وقف خرتشوف في مجلس السوفيت يلقي خطابا استغرق 6 ساعات يفند و يذم فيه و ينتقد فه ستالين و عهده و يعدد اخطائه و خطاياه صاح شخص من خلف الصفوف لماذا لم تقولوا هذا في عهده؟ غضب الرئيس الجديد و صرخ من القائل؟ و رددها ثلاثة مرات و لم يرد عليه احد. فضحك و قال : لهذا السبب لم نقول شيئا في حياته.
لم يستطيع في نهاية المطاف إفعال تغيير يذكر. و إحتاج التغير لعشرات السنين على ايدي غرباتشوف ليرى النور.

و على ايام غرباتشوف كان الخراب قد بلغ الزبى. فصار السكرتير الجديد يبحث عن اصلاحات اسعافية و ما فتح صندق البندورة حتى تفجرت في وجهه كل المحن ذات 70 عاما و لم يعد يستطيع السيطرة عليها. و الباقي تاريخ. و لكن، تاريخ لم يقصد مراميه غرباتشوف قطعاز كل محاولته {إصلاح الخطأ و سط الضمير}

كوبا و كاسترو الاول و الثاني ليسا بعيدين من هذا السيناريو.. الاول و الثاني، و ظروف تزرد عنق الجزيرة بقوة و إلحاح.

تحاياتي

Cuba: Castro and fellow revolutionaries with supporters and the press on the 'March to Havana' , 1959

الاخ عربي يعقوب
اول حاجة ناخذ لوحتك الجميلة و نضعها في إطار، و نعلقهافي جدار البوست

Quote: الاخ العزيز/ ثروت لك التحية والله قلت نسلم عليك بمناسبة رحيل كاسترو بجسده عن سدة الحكم ، و ان نقول له بعد ايه بعد ما ضيعت قلب البلد الكنت فيه؟ ياخي اسوا سؤات النظم الشمولية الدكتاتورية ، التوريث في نظام جمهوري؟ وفي القرن الواحد وعشرين؟! مما يعني الفوضي والعبث الكامل بكل ما لدي الشعوب من قيم كل القيم والتقاليد و.....وا...الخ؟ بل يستدعي الامر بالشعوب ان يقوموا بالتنفيذ الحرفي لما دعا اليه السيد/ عادل امام في مسرحه الواقعي ( الزعيم) وان يهبوا زرافات الي الانتحار الجماعي، ويخلوهم بعة يمشوا السعودية بعة ولا تورابورا ولا الي الجحيم؟ يا اخي دي نيلة منيلة في ستين الف نيلة!! والله كاسترو وحاشيته واخوانا المعانا ديل وكل الدكتاتوريون والشموليون اليوم، هم الاولي والاحق بغوانتينامو بيي من اي اخر مهما كان جريمته. وهذا ليس تهاونا مع الارهابيون، والافكار الدينية الحاضنة لهم ولكن في اعتقادي ان الارهاب الاسلاموي في الاساس اما وليدة القمع الدكتاتوري والانظمة الشمولية؟ او الاثنان صنوان فلا يوجد احدهما في مكان ما الا والثاني رديفه؟ وبمناسبة مسرحية الزعيم لعادل، لدي اصدقاء ليبيون عندما شاهدوا المسرحية لاول مرة اقسموا بان عادل امام لم يمثل احد قط غير القدافي؟ قلنا لهم لماذا عشان لبسته البيضة دا ولا ايه؟ قالوا لا وانما هذا الزعيم، متغطرس، وقح، متعجرف، نذل، جاهل، وسلسلة من البذاءات كلها يجسدها شخص القدافي؟ وقلنا لهم: طيب ما تنتحروا حارسين ايه؟ ماهو دا القاعدة التي توصل اليها عادل امام خارجا عن النص؟ حاجة تجنن وتحنن في ان معا؟ والله الان يتخيل لي ان القدافي قاعد يقول لهم كل يوم موتوا بغيظكم ايها الجبناء؟ او كما هو حالنا مع هؤلاء، حيث انهم كل يوم اعدادهم بيزيد ويزدادون غطرسة ونهب ثم السمسرة؟ اما التوريث كما حدث للسيد بشار النعجة (اسم العائلة الحقيقية) فكانت صدمة في الفكرالسياسي ونظم الحكم، في القرن الواحد و العشرين، ولكن هناك جماعة ابوالرقيع الركيع ، تراهم يركعون لكل نظام ، ولكل من هب ودب لتسلق السلطة فهم، جاهزون بالطبع لشرخ الدستور والقانون والشريعة ظاطو-حسب تعبير هباني – يتم شرخه ورقعه، لان الضرورات تبيح المحظورات ، ومن ثم الركوع ثم الركوب معا، ابد الدهر علي جثث الشعوب. او كما هو ماثل امامنا من حالات، بغيضة وممرضة لدرجة يستدعي الانتحار الجماعي بالطبع. وقبل كم يوم وعبر قناة الجزيرة كان السيد الوريث بشار في طريقه الي مجلس ابوالرقيع بتاعوا، وكان منقول عبر البث الحي بطريقة غريبة، ويدعوا عاجلا الي ما هو مذكور باعاليه، حيث ان اعضاء/ المجلس الموقر قد وقفوا في حالة ركوع وقوفا بالتصفيق الحار جدا جدا بينما كان السيد/بشار يهبط من سيارته في الساحة امام مبني السادة ابوات الرقيع؟ ولقد قضي مايزيد عن الربع ساعة وهو خارج المبني، حيث قام باداء تحية السلام الجمهوري الوراثي ايضا ، ومن ثم صافح مستقبليه وبعض حراسه في الخارج، بينما ابوالرقيع في داخل القاعة قد رقعوا وركعوا بالتصفيق الحار قرابة نصف الساعة قبل دخول سيادته القاعة وهو في الشارع؟ امر محير حقا؟! وكانهم في حالة تنصيب رئيس جديد؟ وحتي لو مراسيم تنصيب جديد ايضا لايمكن التصفيق له بتلك الطريقة المذلة للسلطة التشريعية، وهو في الخارج في الشارع؟ ولكن هنا السلطة الترقيعية، الذي يملكه هو وبالوراثة ايضا. مع خالص شكري وتقديري

تحاياي
و ساعود إليك

ألأخ ثروت و ألمتدأخلين
أنأ عشت فى كوبأ ثمأنية سنوأت و آذهب الى تلك ألجزيرة خلأل آيأم عطلتى ألسنوية. ألصورة ألتى تسوقهأ آميركأ عن كوبأ و كأسترو ليست صحيحة. و بألمنأسبة أخيه رأؤل لم يأتى لقيأدة ألقوأت ألمسلحة ألثورية عن طريقة أ لورأثة, فقد كأن هو قأئد هذه ألقوة قبل إنضمأم فيدل الى ألثوأر فى ألمكسيك أوأسط 50s. عنده أخ آكبر منه وإسمه خوسي رأمون و يتشأبهأن لدرجة إن ألبعض يظن أنهم توأم. رأول هو أخ غير شقيق له و آمه زنجية كأنت عأملة منزل لإسرة كأسترو و على مأ آعتقد, مأ زألت عأئشة . لو عأيزين تعرفوأ سر بقأء كأسترو لهذه ألفترة ألطويلة, آرجو آلإطلأ على historyأ ميركأ فى كوبأ مأ قبل عأم 1959 و خوف ألذنوج من عودة إلأقطأعية ألبيضأء ألى ألجزيرة. ألذنوج يحكمون Cuba بألشكل ألفعلى. ألجيش ألكوبي فيه آربعين جنرأل و فقط ستة من هولأ غير سود.

I have spent quite a bit of time in Cuba in the last few years and have found a very complicated society that has many great points and very bad secrets

However, speaking to many, many, ordinary Cuban people, the overwhelming feeling is not of anger towards Castro, but of understanding. Clearly it has been a huge task to make this island run in the face of the USA's crippling embargo, and to achieve an enviable national health system, one of the highest rates of literacy in the Western World and one of the lowest infant mortality rates is definitely a superb legacy

Whatever the failings, which are many, it simply cannot be looked at in as black and white a way as some, especially in the US, do

By and large a day to day problem for the younger Cubans is that they are relatively comfortable, healthy, educated but unchallenged. From what they have told me the system there allows you to essentially make the same money whether you choose employment or not, and so you have alot of young people aching to acheive their potential with no means of doing so and consequently opting out

There is a lot of love for Castro, and I don't believe any of it was faked for my benefit, but also the feeling that he is out of step with the changing times. Initatives like employing effectively a "tourist only" currency of US dollars, whilst the population used Cuban peso's was a complete disaster and led to the madness of people begging for dollars that could only buy them a pack of gum, whilst there were stores in Havana selling $600 Fridges, that could only be bought by those having dollars sent over by their relatives in Miami

One thing that struck me was a documentary recently about the hundreds of underprivileged American medical students (mainly Black or Hispanic)every year who cannot afford to study in their own country and are trained, for free, in excellent Cuban medical schools, then allowed to fly back and practice in the land of the free

He should probably have left 10 years ago or more, but it would be a tragedy if the US smear his name in the history books completely, his legacy is one of glorious triumphs and
tragic falls, but it is a complicated, unique country and it has taken a complicated, unique leader to take them away from being merely America's playboy Island in the sea and give them an important identity, which hopefully can be built on for the betterment of the lives of regular Cubans

The pressure should now be on the US by the rest of the world to stop it's pathetic policy and remove the embargo against an Island that poses no threat

Neon lit billboard showing Fidel CASTRO during the Cuban Revolution

كتب الاخ زكريا جوزيف
ألأخ ثروت و ألمتدأخلين

Quote: أنأ عشت فى كوبأ ثمأنية سنوأت و آذهب الى تلك ألجزيرة خلأل آيأم عطلتى ألسنوية. ألصورة ألتى تسوقهأ آميركأ عن كوبأ و كأسترو ليست صحيحة. و بألمنأسبة أخيه رأؤل لم يأتى لقيأدة ألقوأت ألمسلحة ألثورية عن طريقة أ لورأثة, فقد كأن هو قأئد هذه ألقوة قبل إنضمأم فيدل الى ألثوأر فى ألمكسيك أوأسط 50s. عنده أخ آكبر منه وإسمه خوسي رأمون و يتشأبهأن لدرجة إن ألبعض يظن أنهم توأم. رأول هو أخ غير شقيق له و آمه زنجية كأنت عأملة منزل لإسرة كأسترو و على مأ آعتقد, مأ زألت عأئشة . لو عأيزين تعرفوأ سر بقأء كأسترو لهذه ألفترة ألطويلة, آرجو آلإطلأ على historyأ ميركأ فى كوبأ مأ قبل عأم 1959 و خوف ألذنوج من عودة إلأقطأعية ألبيضأء ألى ألجزيرة. ألذنوج يحكمون Cuba بألشكل ألفعلى. ألجيش ألكوبي فيه آربعين جنرأل و فقط ستة من هولأ غير سود

........في رأي أن ماحدث في كوبا في الستينات كانت ثورة تغير أجتماعي
وهي حلقة في عقد الستينات :عقد حركات التحرر وعصر الثورات والتغيير والتحولاتوعصر حركة الحقوق المدنية- عهد كنياتا ولومببا وناصر ونهرو وجيفارا ونكروما ومالكومx ومارتن لوثر كنق
وأكتوبر الاخضر بالسودان ...
كانت ثورة بمقاييس عصرها وبالاستناد لظرفها وعصرها وواقع ما قبلها
....... ولكن تغيرت الدنيا ولم يتغير كاسترو ولم يعي حقيقة أنه لايمكن لحزب
ما أن يدعي التعبير عن كل الشعب أو يفرض وصاية عليه وأنه لابد من التعددية وأشاعة
الحريات والرهان علي الديموقراطية -نداء العصر ولغته- ولابد من أتاحة
المجال للمبادرة الفردية في الاقتصاد ولابد من التخلي عن سياسة القبضة الحديدية
والقمع...
.........نعم كانت حركة كاسترو ثورة وقتها قضت علي نظام متعفن ومتخلف- باتيستا
وأعادة للسود أدمياتهم وكرامتهم والفقراء و لكن نظام كاسترو عاد ليشكل عقبة
ضد التحول وأستيعاب المتغيرات ........
فذلكة تاريخية:
...كان كاسترو يعمل من خلال النظام الديموقراطي- وكان الرئس وقتها- سوكاراس .......الا أن الجنرال باتيستا أطاح بالنظام الديموقراطي
والغت الانتخابات مما دفع كاسترو لرفع دعوة قضائية ردتها المحكمة
مما دفع الرجل في طريق ثورة شعبية مسلحة ....
كمال

Fidel's farewell



An edited translation of a letter from Fidel Castro, posted on the website of Cuba's Communist party newspaper Granma





Fidel Castro

The Guardian

February 19, 2008 11:15 AM

Dear compatriots

Last Friday, February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I would deal with an issue of interest to many compatriots. So this reflection comes in the form of a message

The time has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its president, its vice presidents and its secretary

For many years I occupied the honourable position of president. On February 15, 1976, the Socialist Constitution was approved with the free, direct and secret vote of over 95% of eligible voters. The first National Assembly was established on December 2 that same year, and it elected the State Council and its presidency. Before that, I had been a prime minister for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary prerogatives to carry forward the revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people

There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition, thought that my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, from the position of President of the State Council, which I left to First Vice President Raúl Castro Ruz, was permanent. Raúl, who is also minister of the armed forces because of his personal merits, and the other comrades of the Party and State leadership were unwilling to consider me out of public life despite my precarious health

It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-a-vis an adversary which had done everything possible to get rid of me (referring to the United States), and I felt reluctant to comply

Later, I was able to recover the full command of my mind and could do much reading and meditation, required by my retreat. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with rehabilitation and recovery programmes. Basic common sense indicated to me that such activity was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring to my health I was extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the battle. Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people both politically and psychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery "was not without risks"

My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That's what I can offer

To my dearest compatriots, who have recently honoured me so much by electing me a member of the Parliament where so many agreements should be adopted of utmost importance to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I will neither aspire to nor accept - I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept - the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief

In short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, director of the Round Table programme on National Television - letters which at my request were made public - I discreetly introduced elements of this message I am writing today, when not even the addressee of such letters was aware of my intention. I trusted Randy because I knew him well from his days as a journalism student. In those days I met almost on a nearly weekly basis with the main representatives of the university students from the provinces at the library of the large house in Kohly where they lived. Today, the entire country is an immense university

Here are selected paragraphs from the letter sent to Randy on December 17, 2007:

"I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems facing Cuban society, which has on average a 12th grade education, almost 1 million university graduates, and real opportunities for its citizens to study without facing discrimination, require more variables for each concrete problem than those contained in a chess game. We cannot ignore a single detail; this is not an easy path to take, if the intelligence of a human being in a revolutionary society is to prevail over instinct

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era in which I lived

"Like (Brazilian architect Oscar) Niemeyer (who turned 100 on December 15), I believe that one has to be consistent right up to the end."



Letter from January 8, 2008:

"... I am a firm supporter of a unified vote (a principle that preserves ignored merits), which allowed us to avoid the tendency to copy what came to us from countries of the former socialist bloc, including the portrait of the one candidate, as singular as his solidarity toward Cuba. I deeply respect that first attempt at building socialism, thanks to which we were able to continue along the path we had chosen."

I reiterated in that letter that "... I never forget that all the world's glory fits in a kernel of corn"

Therefore, it would be a betrayal of my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer. This I say devoid of all drama.
Fortunately, our process can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early days of the Revolution. Some were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and later they filled the country with glory with their heroism and their internationalist missions. They have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is also the intermediate generation that learned with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organising and leading a revolution

The path will always be difficult and require everyone's intelligent effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its antithesis of self-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the worst possibilities. We cannot forget the principle of being as prudent in success as steady in adversity. The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong, but we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century

This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the title, "Reflections of Comrade Fidel". It will be another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful

Thank you


Fidel Castro Ruz

قد تكون هذه مقدمة لانهيار النظام الشيوعى فى كوبا. عندها فقط سيتنفس الكوبيين الصعداء وينعموا بثروة الحرية كما ينعم بها سكان الجمهوريات الشيوعية السابقة. والذى ينظر الى هذه الدول التى انعتقت من الشيوعية يجد انها حققت فى بضع سنوات ما لم تستطع ان تحققه خلال عقود من الحكم الدكتاتورى الشيوعى القاهر.

حكم كاستروا كوبا بالقبضة الحديدية. وقد نجح فى تشريد اكثر من مليون كوبى الى منافى (ابدية). عونا على ذلك فقد قتل وشرد وعذب وزج فى السجون عشرات الالاف من الكوبيين الابرياء. اضافة الى ذلك فقد تدخلت كوبا فى شؤون الدول الاخرى بحجج تصدير الثورة وغيرها من الذرائع.

الشعب الكوبى فى ظل هذا النظام يعانى الفقر والمرض. معظم الاسر تعتمد على تحويلات المهاجرين من ابناءها. والهجرة اصبحت حلم كل كوبى حتى لو اقترنت بالمخاطرة وركوب القوارب البدائية فى المحيط الهائج. المبانى التى شيدها الروس اصبحت ايلة للسقوط بفعل التعرية اضافة لعدم المقدرة على الصيانة.

فى كوبا توجد لجان تسمى لجان الدفاع عن الثورة. وهى لجان انشاها الحزب الشيوعى. هذه اللجان موجودة فى كل حى. ومن مهامها كتابةالتقارير عن المواطنين, حتى اصبحت بعبع يخيف كل مواطن.

فى كوبا المواطنين الذى يصابون بالايدز يرسلون الى معسكرات حجز, بدلا من الاهتام بهم ومعالجتهم.

المهاجر الكوبى عندما يرجع الى بلده زائرا لا يعامل معاملة السواح الاجانب. فهو ممنوع من ارتياد الفنادق والمطاعم التى يرتادها الاجانب. تماما كما كانت تفعل جنوب افريقيا اياموالابارتهايد.


اعتقد ان هذه بشارة حسنة وان الكوبيين لن ينتظروا كثيرا حتى تسقط قلعة اخرى من قلاع الشيوعية.

Cuba: with American author Ernest Hemingway in 1960

Moscow, Russia: Castro with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev during an official visit in May 1963

New York, US: Making a speech at the United Nations in 1979

Pretoria, South Africa: Sahring a joke with Yasser Arafat at Nelson Mandela's Inauguration as President of South Africa in 1994

Havana, Cuba: Castro is accompanied on the podium by his Venezuelan and Bolivian counterparts Hugo Chávez (l) and Evo Morales (r) as they wave to supporters in April 2006

Castro's message to the Cuban people in the state newspaper, Granma, announcing his resignation

Made in America


Fidel Castro's rule was defined by his defiance of the United States, but it was US intervention in Latin America that made him who he was






Stephen Kinzer


February 19, 2008 9:30 PM

The Guardian


The resignation of Fidel Castro ends a remarkably long political career that was shaped above all by the legacy of American intervention

The crucial episode in the shaping of Castro's political thought came in the mid-1950s, when he was in exile in Mexico and dreaming of seizing power in his native Cuba. There he met a young Argentine doctor, Che Guevara, who had just lived through the trauma of the CIA coup that ended democratic rule in Guatemala. The two had long conversations about how and why the CIA had managed with relative ease to overthrow the reformist government of President Jacobo Arbenz

Guevara recounted how CIA operatives had taken advantage of Guatemala's political openness to bribe newspaper editors, encourage opposition groups and build influence within the armed forces. That led Guevara to a transcendent conclusion. It was not possible, he told Castro, to impose a reformist political programme in any Latin American country within the framework of democracy, because the US would crush it. The only way to do so, the two men agreed, was to establish a dictatorship in which no opposition groups were allowed to function

After Castro seized power in 1959, with Guevara at his side, this is the course on which he led Cuba. The repressive rule he imposed on Cubans sharply restricted their civic and political freedoms. It also made his long survival possible

The CIA coup in Guatemala was not the only American intervention that shaped Castro's worldview. Like countless Cubans over the span of two generations, his political consciousness was decisively influenced by the legacy of the Spanish-American war of 1898. Cuban revolutionaries welcomed American soldiers who came to help them in that war because the US Congress had promised that after Spanish rule over Cuba was ended, American troops would withdraw and "leave the government and control of the island to its people". Once the Spanish were defeated, however, the US changed its mind and decided to turn Cuba into a protectorate. Cuban patriots never forgot that betrayal

"This time the revolution will not be frustrated!" Castro vowed in his first speech after winning his revolutionary victory in 1959. "This time, fortunately for Cuba, the revolution will achieve its true objective. It will not be like 1898, when the Americans came in and made themselves masters of the country."

Less than three years after he made that speech, Castro had to defend his government against a military invasion sponsored by the United States. His victory at the Bay of Pigs not only confirmed his belief that the US would never end its hostility to his regime. It also helped him become the world superstar of anti-imperialism and the idol of revolutionaries around the world

Years later, Castro further burnished his credentials by sending Cuban troops to Angola. There they fought against US-backed forces that sought to protect the ruling oligarchy in Angola and defend American allies in apartheid South Africa

During Castro's long rule, ordinary Cubans enjoyed better healthcare, education and overall standards of living than their counterparts in nearby countries where the US held decisive power, among them Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. They also, however, were denied basic political rights. Castro was what pop psychologists call a "control freak". He believed, like Louis XIV and many other absolutists, that only he knew what was best for his people

One important reason Castro embraced Marxism was that it gave him a theoretical framework within which he could justify holding power indefinitely. Another reason was that it gave him a bulwark against American intervention. His career was defined above all by his defiance of the United States. Ironically, though, it was the history of US intervention in Latin America that made him the tyrant he became

الراجل نفسه طويل لكن مكنكش كان كنكشة صعبة .

Raul CASTRO speaks to farm workers in Barajagua, 1994

The long goodbye


Fidel Castro's brother Raúl will introduce economic and political reforms to Cuba, but he does not represent the regime change that George Bush had expected





Ben Whitford

February 20, 2008 10:00 PM

The Guardian

When word of Fidel Castro's illness first emerged, back in the summer of 2006, it was met with jubilation by Miami's Cuban-Americans. The assumption - shared by President Bush and much of the DC foreign policy community - was that the Bearded One's half-century as Havana's undisputed top dog had come to an end: his political demise was surely imminent, and that meant the beginning of the end for Cuba's communist government

More than a year and a half later, of course, Castro's Caribbean communists are still going strong. Perhaps it's hardly surprising, then, that the Cuban leader's Shermanesque letter of resignation didn't spark dancing in the streets of Miami. These days, even Calle Ocho's hardliners are resigned to the fact that Fidel's formal retirement won't change much of anything

That's a testament to the octogenarian strongman's success in choreographing his slow-motion departure from political life. Most Cuba-watchers expected Castro to cling to power as long as he had a breath in his body - and believed Fidel's eventual demise would trigger the disintegration of his regime, throwing Cuba into post-communist convulsions and ultimately paving the way for a transition to capitalism and democracy

Instead, by gradually relinquishing control, Fidel has been able to ease into a new role as dictator emeritus while supervising the changing of the guard. The Cuban leader's long convalescence allowed him to anoint his brother Raúl as his heir apparent - and to shape his legacy from the sidelines, ensuring that as president pro tem his brother kept the revolution on the right track. His formal resignation is the logical next step in this process, giving Raúl the space to begin asserting his leadership but allowing Fidel to remain on hand as a "soldier in the battle of ideas", ensuring that any changes take place strictly on El Comandante's terms

That's not to say that Fidel's departure won't bring real change to Cuba. Raúl may lack his brother's charisma and intuitive grasp of the nuances of the political game, but he's a smart, pragmatic technocrat with a clear understanding of Cuba's need for reform. Overhauling the country's economy will be top of his list: unemployment, low pay and shortages are top of most Cubans' concerns, ranking well above the political freedoms that get so much attention from well-meaning gringos. Raúl tried to introduce gradual free-market reforms back in the 90s only to be snubbed by his brother. This time around, he'll be keen to begin pushing through his vision

Castro's drift to the sidelines also clears the way for tentative social and political reforms. So far, Raúl has struck a relatively conciliatory tone toward the US and has given the appearance of wishing to edge away from his brother's absolute intolerance of political dissidence. The number of political prisoners in Cuba has gradually dwindled since Raúl took the reins, and his administration has even encouraged public criticism of its policies. It's not yet clear whether this is a genuine shift toward greater political freedom, a safety valve intended to obviate the need for more sweeping reforms or merely Havana's Hundred Flowers moment. Either way, these tentative first steps are a sign that Raúl and the party cadres have a plan for the future and won't be crying uncle simply because Fidel has begun cashing his pension checks

That's a jab in the eye for George Bush, who'd assumed that regime change would be the inevitable consequence of Castro's departure. That certainty bred complacency: rather than reaching out to the next generation of Cuban leaders, Bush stuck to a more-of-the-same Cuba policy, continuing to serve up the economic sanctions and confrontational rhetoric that for decades have only bolstered the Castro regime

Fidel has seen nine US presidents come and go and made no secret of wanting to add Bush to that list. But while Fidel may not have outlasted Dubya, he certainly outfoxed him. The smoothness of the handover of power in Havana has left the White House's Cuba policies looking dated, clumsy and ineffectual

So far, there's no sign that Bush will learn his lesson. His administration greeted Castro's resignation by deriding Raúl as "Fidel lite" and promising that the island's economic embargo would not be lifted "anytime soon". That's disappointing. The closure of this chapter in Cuban history presents a rare opportunity for Washington to move away from its decades-old, failing policies without losing too much face. If Bush sticks to his guns and ultimately proves unable to adjust to Cuba's new political reality, he'll be giving Fidel the sweetest retirement gift of all

Cuba's President Fidel Castro (R) and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) exchange documents during a treaty signing ceremony in Havana in April 4, 1989.

الاخ زكريا

Quote: ألأخ ثروت و ألمتدأخلين أنأ عشت فى كوبأ ثمأنية سنوأت و آذهب الى تلك ألجزيرة خلأل آيأم عطلتى ألسنوية. ألصورة ألتى تسوقهأ آميركأ عن كوبأ و كأسترو ليست صحيحة. و بألمنأسبة أخيه رأؤل لم يأتى لقيأدة ألقوأت ألمسلحة ألثورية عن طريقة أ لورأثة, فقد كأن هو قأئد هذه ألقوة قبل إنضمأم فيدل الى ألثوأر فى ألمكسيك أوأسط 50s. عنده أخ آكبر منه وإسمه خوسي رأمون و يتشأبهأن لدرجة إن ألبعض يظن أنهم توأم. رأول هو أخ غير شقيق له و آمه زنجية كأنت عأملة منزل لإسرة كأسترو و على مأ آعتقد, مأ زألت عأئشة . لو عأيزين تعرفوأ سر بقأء كأسترو لهذه ألفترة ألطويلة, آرجو آلإطلأ على historyأ ميركأ فى كوبأ مأ قبل عأم 1959 و خوف ألذنوج من عودة إلأقطأعية ألبيضأء ألى ألجزيرة. ألذنوج يحكمون Cuba بألشكل ألفعلى. ألجيش ألكوبي فيه آربعين جنرأل و فقط ستة من هولأ غير سود.

الاقطاع لن يعود! عقارب الساعة لن ترجع إلى الوراء. لا استبعد ان تكون مفاهيم مثل هذه وسط الكميونتي السوداء في كوبا مصدرها حملة تخويف منظمة يقف خلفها كاسترو المتسلط و حزبه. او هي نتيجة جهل او نستلجيا ناتجة عن الوضع القمعي المستمر. المتحكم في الإرادة الشخصية و مزيف لها.

السود و البيض و كل البشرية يبحثون عن الكرامة و الحرية و حقوق الانسان. و كاسترو نظامه فشل فشل مزري في هذا المجال.
و هذا الوضع الذي تحولت فيه الجزيرة لسجن كوابيس كبير ساهمت فيه ايضا المقاطعة الامريكية المحكمة. و في تقديري، براك اوباما و ثلة من اعضاء الكونقرس محقين عندما نادوا بالتطبيع. فالتطبيع سيذوب الشمولية لمصلة المفهوم الديمقراطي الحر لانه مشروع طاغي لا تصمد امامه التخريفات الماركسية. و التى لو تلاحظ عادة ما تحتاج لجدران صماء لتنفذ شرورها.

شكرا عزيزي

Thorwat
I wrote a lengthy comment in Arabic with my Pc mouse and I went to edit it, it was gone. damn, I got sick amn.

Havana. Wax figures of Fidel Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos at the Museum of the Revolution

It is Che and Camilo Cienfuegos and not Castro and Che.
Camilo died shortly and misteriously after the triunph of the Cuban Revolution. Note that Camilo is wearing an arm band which symbolized the members of the 26 of July Movement. He and Castro belonged to the 26 of July Movement whille Castro's brother Raul was a pure communist since his days at the University of Havana and headed the leftist movement in the group.

الاخوة ثروت و المتداخلون
لكم التحايا
كل ما يفرح جورج بوش ( الديمقراطي ) يحزنني كثيرا.....
"نار كاسترو.. و لا جنة جورج بوش "
بأي منطق نساوي بين "باتستا الفاشي" و كاسترو الدكتاتور الثائر!!!!!!!
لا تستعجلوا الأمور فالشعب الكوبي يخشى أن تكون جزيرتهم "ماخورة كبيرة"يديرهاالنظام الأمريكي الديمقراطي .
فكرو في سجم رماد بلدكم أحسن.


شوقي حمزة / مسقط

Havana. Raul CASTRO, Minister of Armed Forces at a student rallye supporting the regime. 1994

Quote: عندما وقف خرتشوف في مجلس السوفيت يلقي خطابا استغرق 6 ساعات يفند و يذم فيه و ينتقد فه ستالين و عهده و يعدد اخطائه و خطاياه صاح شخص من خلف الصفوف لماذا لم تقولوا هذا في عهده؟ غضب الرئيس الجديد و صرخ من القائل؟ و رددها ثلاثة مرات و لم يرد عليه احد. فضحك و قال : لهذا السبب لم نقول شيئا في حياته.

اول حاجة 8 ساعات و ليس 6 ساعات

في عام 1956 حينما عقد موتمر الحزب

الشيوعي السوفيتي العشريني اي بعد

اي بعد 3 سنوات من وفاة ستالين

وفي ذاك الموتمر لم يتحدث عن

ستالين في تقريره الكان مكون

من 100صفحة بل تحدث عن العلاقات الخارجية

و عن الخطة الخمسية و عند دور الثقافة...الخ

وفي يوم 24 فبراير وفي اجتماع خاصة للمندوبين

تحدث عن فترة ستالين ناقدآ لها بعنف.




نحن ما فاضين السنة كلها نصلح فيك

Quote: رددها ثلاثة مرات

3 مرات

بتذكرني الحكاوي


خليك في علبك

Cubans cling to socialist dream










Omar answers his mobile phone with perfunctory aplomb, Bluetooth earpiece proudly displayed, a symbol of his vision of the modernised revolution he would like to see in his country

"What you can be sure about is that Cuba will remain a socialist country," he says. "The international situation means that we have to make some changes and we have to become competitive, but the development this brings will be distributed in a socialist way."

The future is on Cubans' minds this week in the wake of Fidel Castro's announcement that he is stepping down as their president. All over Havana - from the faded stone grandeur of the old city to the dilapidated concrete of the suburbs - the opinions that come easiest to the surface are deep respect for the revolution Castro led in 1959, gratitude for the more equal system he then established, and admiration for his ability to ensure its survival in a hostile world. But amid the pride and the defiance of "those in other countries who wanted us to fail", there are many voicing hopes that things will now be different

"The fundamental problem, and I really mean fundamental, is economic," says Gómez, a university professor who, like most Cubans, prefers not to give his full name. "Right now in Cuba people are not living very well."

Gómez's dream, he says, is to set up his own consultancy advising new businesses on how to take on the US embargo and win. There are 1 million people with a university education on the island, he says, the product of the revolution - but also stunted by it

"The system has to start to trust us and let us do things like that," he says. "I don't need much money, give me a computer in a corner and I bet I can contribute to the development of this country."

The old Cuba still oozes from every corner. Crumbling colonial architecture is much more prevalent than the renovated splendour; American gas guzzlers from the 1950s and motorcycles with sidecars still trundle through the streets despite the odd shiny taxi. On corners at night, bands strike up and locals start dancing. Uniformed children sing the national anthem in public squares before the schoolday begins

In the poor barrio of Marianao - a transport hub for people travelling to the provinces squeezed on benches in covered trucks - Babi and her daughter Olga amble home

"I am proud to live here and proud of everything the revolution has done. I only wish that the comandante en jefe [Castro] was immortal and that he could be our leader forever," says the elder of the women. "But that there are things that don't work and things I would like to see different - of course there are."

Chief among these, for her, are greater freedoms to live and work in different parts of the country, which are restricted to avoid internal migration resulting from existing uneven national development. The women come from Guantánamo, at the opposite end of this elongated island to Havana, and say they are constantly in fear of being picked up by police and sent back to where they come from

"How dare they do that to people like us," says Olga. "We are just as Cuban as anybody who lives here."

The women would also like to have more freedom to associate with foreigners in the capital's centre. The growth of tourism in the past 15 years has been accompanied by a corresponding growth in prostitution. This is largely tolerated by the government, but Olga says she knows of cases of women being beaten by police just for talking to a foreign man

Tourism has brought with it new pressures. Beyond the prostitution, there is also an acute sense among some of deprivation

Ariel sits outside his aunt's house in Old Havana. "I don't see why we can't also travel to other countries and then come home again like the tourists who come here," he says

Sitting on a bench watching the world go by, 78-year-old Alfonso sees foreigners eating in restaurants he frequented as a young man but now he can only dream of on his 230 peso (£10) monthly pension

"They are all the same," he says of the country's leaders, including Castro's younger brother Raúl who has been in charge since Fidel withdrew with intestinal problems 19 months ago. "Well perhaps not quite the same. None of them... has the extraordinary power to convince and the trick the people as Fidel."

Whatever their opinion of the leader there does seem to be consensus that his exit was certainly well executed

On Radio Ciudad de Habana's morning news show the day after the resignation, an analyst summed up coverage of Castro's resignation around the world. "Even the US press had to admit, that Fidel saw off 10 presidents," he said

"It was elegant" says Viven of Castro's departure. "He went when he wanted to. But he will always be here guiding us where to go next."

How much longer the promised "victoria" will take





Oliver Balch in Havana

The Guardian, Wednesday February 20 2008

In a country of shortages, political symbols are one of the few objects of plenty in Cuba. Hasta la victoria siempre (always, on towards victory) screams from billboards and television screens across the Caribbean island

But, almost 50 years after Fidel Castro marched into Havana, many younger Cubans are beginning to ask how much longer the promised "victoria" will take. Hospitals may be free, they say, but they lack medicines; pupils may not pay for school, but there are few textbooks

Before yesterday's announcement of Castro's retirement, many had already started tuning out of Cuba's revolutionary rhetoric. "They [younger generations] don't care who died in the attack on the Moncada barracks or in the Sierra Maestra," said José Arango, 46, a lawyer in Havana, referring to events leading to the 1959 revolution. "These things are as relevant to youngsters as Arthur and his Round Table are for young Britons."

Low incomes, high prices and increasing inequality are the daily realities that concern people. The average wage in Cuba hovers around 250 Cuban pesos (£5.50) per month. Doctors, lawyers and other trained professionals can expect around £11. "It's not enough to get through the first week, let alone the whole month," said Alabardo, the driver of a government-owned taxi in Havana, who survives on tips from tourists

Monthly state rations of rice, sugar and other basic necessities last at best 10 days, according to Alabardo. Cuba imports around 85% of its food

The increasing number of everyday goods that are now sold in convertible pesos (CUC) aggravates popular disgruntlement. The CUC was introduced as a parallel currency primarily for foreign tourists. Cubans still receive their wages in Cuban pesos, worth 25 times less

"If you've got Convertibles, you can buy whatever you like; medicines, food, you name it," said Yidrany León, a plumber. "Those of us that don't [have them] suffer an internal embargo, in addition to the external embargo imposed by the United States."

Restrictions on self-employment, quotas on agricultural goods and a ban on the sale of private property add to daily aggravations. Rarely do Cubans complain in public. But in a debate at the University of Information Sciences, a group of students openly criticised restrictions on internet access, foreign travel and staying in tourist hotels

Alejandro Hernández, a student, questioned the validity of January's parliamentary elections, which saw 614 candidates present themselves for 614 seats. "Who are these people? I don't know them," he said

The criticisms were voiced in the presence of the president of Cuba's national assembly. A video of the interchange was circulated on the internet

The previous month, workers at Acorec, the state-run employment agency that contracts Cuban employees out to foreign companies, protested about a tax paid on gratificaciones received from international employers

The increase in public complaints is credited to Raúl Castro's stint in charge. Perceived as a moderate reformer, Raúl called for a national debate about Cuba's problems and their potential solutions

"If there's a change that has taken place in the last 18 months, it's that more people are open about the problems Cuba faces," said a senior western diplomat in Havana

The state-run newspaper, Granma, now publishes the occasional critical letter from readers. Rumours of a relaxation on private and cooperative ownership of small farms, are also circulating

Dramatic change should not be expected overnight, the diplomat said. "Whether Fidel is officially president or not, it doesn't make much difference to the running of government. He'll still be the one in charge."

The ex-president has committed to "carry on fighting like a soldier of ideas" through his newspaper columns. But for the seven in 10 Cubans who have never known another leader, a change of face will be a symbol in itself

Fidel Castro's resignation


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Because cubans deserve better

Quote: ........في رأي أن ماحدث في كوبا في الستينات كانت ثورة تغير أجتماعي وهي حلقة في عقد الستينات :عقد حركات التحرر وعصر الثورات والتغيير والتحولاتوعصر حركة الحقوق المدنية- عهد كنياتا ولومببا وناصر ونهرو وجيفارا ونكروما ومالكومx ومارتن لوثر كنق وأكتوبر الاخضر بالسودان ... كانت ثورة بمقاييس عصرها وبالاستناد لظرفها وعصرها وواقع ما قبلها ....... ولكن تغيرت الدنيا ولم يتغير كاسترو ولم يعي حقيقة أنه لايمكن لحزب ما أن يدعي التعبير عن كل الشعب أو يفرض وصاية عليه وأنه لابد من التعددية وأشاعة الحريات والرهان علي الديموقراطية -نداء العصر ولغته- ولابد من أتاحة المجال للمبادرة الفردية في الاقتصاد ولابد من التخلي عن سياسة القبضة الحديدية والقمع... .........نعم كانت حركة كاسترو ثورة وقتها قضت علي نظام متعفن ومتخلف- باتيستا وأعادة للسود أدمياتهم وكرامتهم والفقراء و لكن نظام كاسترو عاد ليشكل عقبة ضد التحول وأستيعاب المتغيرات ........ فذلكة تاريخية: ...كان كاسترو يعمل من خلال النظام الديموقراطي- وكان الرئس وقتها- سوكاراس .......الا أن الجنرال باتيستا أطاح بالنظام الديموقراطي والغت الانتخابات مما دفع كاسترو لرفع دعوة قضائية ردتها المحكمة مما دفع الرجل في طريق ثورة شعبية مسلحة ....

."CUBA. Havana. March 2006. Central Havana. Fidel Poster: "We are fine

Castro's apologists


The left's solidarity with Castro in defiance of the United States is understandable - except when it excuses his own human rights violations






Ian Williams


The Guardian


February 21, 2008 8:00 PM

Fidel Castro retires after half a century of being the dubious beneficiary of uncritical support from Manichaean-Marxists who firmly believe that being attacked by Washington is tantamount to canonisation. None of the Leninoid left's idols have feet with any hint of clay and Castro's halo of infallibility is already luminescing around Hugo Chávez

There can be no denying Castro's charisma and attraction to many people across the world. Whether at conferences in the United Nations general assembly or receptions at the Cuban mission in New York, the presence of El Lider Maximo always pulled maximum crowds

Across the Caribbean, crowds would gather to greet him for his stand against the US, but you did not see boatloads of Caribbeans paddling their rubber inner tubes to the promised land of socialism. Not even the desperate Haitians were, or are, that desperate

I met Castro several times at such events, and, with my longer, redder beard at the time was rather chuffed that he called me "El Vikingo". On one level, it is easy to see why he attracts that support and even why it gives me frisson to be sobriqueted by a historical leader. In a world where almost everyone tries to do America's bidding, Castro has successfully defied president after president

In that battle, the US has mostly been wrong, morally, legally and tactically. The Pentagon's torture chambers in Guantánamo on the island mock Washington's relatively recent rhetorical attachment to democracy and human rights. Earlier, its oft-expressed concern for human rights in Cuba belied its sponsorship of military regimes across Latin America, which killed more civilians in a single day than the Castro regime executed in the last 50 years. And of course sanctions on Cuba compare oddly with almost complete trade dependence on China, compared with which Cuba is an open society

However, while Washington may have usually been wrong, that does not mean that Castro was always right. Castro's execution of his former comrades Antonio de La Guardia and Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez, and his wholesale arrests and imprisonments of dissidents merited condemnation, but when a group of us drafted a letter about the latter to the New York Review of Books, the vitriol from some of those who now condemn Bush for Guantánamo reflected the pseudo-Marxist Manichaean thinking of some of the left

Inspired by the same unthinking solidarity that overlooked Stalin's purges, or indeed more recently Milosevic's mass murders, they reacted in fury. I have never quite understood why executions in Texas should be so obviously bad, while those in Havana or Beijing should be excusable, or vice-versa for that matter. But then Fidel's support for various mass murderers masquerading as socialists, from Mugabe to Milosevic showed the same uncritical solidarity of the Levant: his enemy's enemy was his friend

These starry-eyed supporters will tell you of Cuba's education, of the health service. On one visit to Cuba, I went round to the house of Alberto Korda, the photographer who took the iconic photo of Che Guevara. Although he was getting his heart medication, he showed me the local ambulance station, where the ambulance was propped up on bricks, without tires. Others complained that they needed hard currency to buy medications, and I usually brought unobtainable across-the-counter painkillers for the arthritic parents of another Cuban friend

Cuban education was indeed successful in effecting near universal literacy - but there are strict limits on what anyone is allowed to read with their skills. I had known several of the dissidents against whose sentences we had protested, and, sadly, I also knew the one who became a stool-pigeon for the regime. His eloquent and cogent denunciation of the falling intellectual standards brought about by such censorship suggests that he was turned later, or was a deeply conflicted person, old and weak

But let us look at the reality. Also in the Caribbean is Barbados, where people do not need permission to leave the country, where free trade unions exist and where a government that was defeated last month has stepped down gracefully. It also has treble the per capita GDP of Cuba. Compare Barbados's UNDP human development report with that of Cuba

When I checked, Jamaica actually had a larger proportion of its population abroad than Cuba, and like the emigrants from many Caribbean islands, they send remittances home and harbour no grudges against their home governments. The perverse genius of Castro was to declare most of those who left criminals or "worms", although it has to be said that it was not totally East German in its application. Cubans who married foreigners could leave with them, as many have

Now that Castro has stepped down, albeit in favour of his brother, bringing Cuba into the North Korean dynastic socialist mode, one can only hope that there is a middle way. Sadly the signs are that some of the leadership are more interested in the Chinese model, letting the economy rip while the party holds ruthlessly onto power, while the Miami exiles' vindictive attitudes to those who stayed do not bode well for either democracy or equality

Many of the dissidents I've met thought that Cuba should emulate Scandinavia and western Europe as a way of combining prosperity, democracy and social equality. Let's hope that with El Lider Maximo sidelined, they can persuade some in the leadership. Cuba is a wonderful country with enterprising and generous people. It deserves better than Castro has given them, or the Miami crowd can offer

Havana. Fidel CASTRO speaks on reorganization of the party

العزيز ثروت..

تحية وتقدير..

وتحية وتقدير للكبير كاسترو..
أكاد أجزم أنه كان ملهما للكثيرين من أبناء جيلنا والأجيال التي تلته..
يكفي أنه كان داعما لحركات تحرر قارتنا الحبيبة..
وأنه الرجل الذي قال لأمريكا: لا. في الوقت الذي ركع فيه الجميع..


نموذج حكمه أوضح كل عيوب الديموقراطية والديكتاتورية.. وهذه محمدة


كل الأمنيات لكوبا وشعبها بحياة كريمة

تسلم

Quote: وتولى كاسترو الرئاسة عام 1959

ما لسة بدرى

A butcher cuts pork to sell in Havana February 21, 2008. The resignation of Fidel Castro as Cuba's supreme leader means that changes in the socialist economy he guarded for nearly 50 years are inevitable but experts say no one should expect too much, too soon. Since taking power in a 1959 revolution, Castro has stuck to a strict state-controlled economy with little room for private enterprise and an aversion to the kind of reforms that brought rapid growth to other communist states like China and Vietnam

Schoolgirls clean the floor at a school in Havana near a portrait of President Fidel Castro. Interim president Raul Castro looked well placed to ascend to Cuba's helm indefinitely at Sunday's National Assembly meeting, after his ailing brother Fidel Castro announced this week that he would formally relinquish power after almost 50 years

Cubans pass by a wall with a political slogan that reads "Viva Fidel" meaning "Long Live Fidel" in Havana, Cuba

People do a line as they wait for a bus in Havana

Havana. 2000. In a restaurant

Cuban schoolchildren walk along a street in Havana

General view of a Havana's street with the Capitolio (former Congress) on the background

A fruit stall in Havana

Cubans wait for the bus next to a poster with images of Cuban leaders Fidel (R) and Raul Castro in Havana

A Cuban self-employee (R) sells candies near a poster of Cuban president Fidel Castro

Cuban dissident Omar Pernet Hernandez shows his collar-bone that he broke during his stay in prison and that is only partly healed during a press conference in Madrid, Tuesday Feb. 19, 2008

Pernet Hernandez, one of four Cuban dissidents who were released after spending years in prison in Cuba for their political beliefs and flew into Spain Sunday, were among 75 dissidents arrested in a government crackdown on the opposition in 2003

A small group stages a street demonstration after news that Cuba's President Fidel Castro had resigned Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood

Children wait for Santa Claus to arrive for "Three King's Day" celebrations at a convent in Havana January 6, 2008. The Christmas Day holiday was banned in 1969 by President Fidel Castro's government and only restored in 1997 on the eve of Pope John Paul's historic visit to Cuba

People walk past a billboard reading "To vote for our ideas and our principles, January 20, Cuba in elections" in Havana

Thousands of people hold torches during an event in celebration of the 155th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti at the entrance of the University of Havana

Castro's Legacy: Half grandfather,half God





Jon Lee Anderson, biographer of Che Guevara, reflects on his legacy and the future of the island he did so much to shape

The Guardian

Jon Lee Anderson The Guardian

Friday February 22 2008




In the early 90s, when I was living in Havana with my family, my eldest daughter, Bella, who was then about six years old, came home from school one afternoon in a state of excitement. She asked me, in Spanish: "Daddy, do you know what 'amor' means?" I feigned ignorance. Taking a deep breath, Bella recited: "Amor es lo que Fidel siente para el pueblo" - "Love is what Fidel feels for the people."

Careful not to show my dismay, I congratulated Bella on her feat of memorisation, and she beamed with pride. She was, understandably, very pleased with her educational achievement

The Havana primary school that Bella attended was the Eliseo Reyes, named after one of the Cuban guerrilla fighters who accompanied Ernesto "Che" Guevara on his final expedition to Bolivia and who died with him there, fighting for the cause of Marxist revolution. Posted over the school's front door was a wooden sign that read Muerte a Traidores - Death to Traitors

Bella's school primer had little symbols illustrating each letter of the alphabet. "F", for instance, symbolised "fusil" (rifle), and "T" stood for "tank". The book was sprinkled with Fidel's sayings on the importance of education, study and revolutionary duty. There were pictures too. One depicted a youthful Fidel riding into Havana on a tank. Another showed him in the heat of battle, commanding Cuban troops during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. In the schoolbook, Fidel Castro was always referred to simply as "Fidel"

Inevitably, during the three years we lived in Cuba, Fidel became both a familiar figure and a totemic one to my children - half grandfather, half God. With his deeds and aphorisms the stuff of daily fare, and his face and voice omnipresent on nightly television, they came to understand that El Jefe Maximo was the ultimate guiding hand that controlled their lives and those of everyone around them. He represented the past and the present, and the future too. Fidel, somehow, was Cuba

Now Fidel Castro is resigning. Illness and age have already forced him to step back from the public stage he occupied for nearly half a century, to fade away in an extended hermitage that has gone on since July 2006. Except for the mostly hushed manner of his prolonged farewell, it has seemed fitting that Fidel would take his leave in the same way he has lived his life, as a long, drawn-out epic. By not appearing in public, by disappearing and yet not disappearing, he remained, of course, the centre of attention in Cuba, as he always had been

If survival were a virtue, then Castro would be very virtuous indeed, because he has been with us for an extremely long time. In 1957, when Fidel was in the Sierra Maestra fighting the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, Dwight D Eisenhower was the American president, and the United States still had only 48 states. During the two years that Fidel's guerrilla war lasted, the Soviets launched Sputnik into space, Detroit launched the Ford Edsel, and "Leave it to Beaver" premiered on American television

Fidel seized power in January 1959; he went on to become the longest-serving political leader in the world, outlasting not only nine American presidents but his main ideological and financial sponsor, the Soviet Union, as well. Communism collapsed, but Fidel didn't

Over the decades, Fidel has left his mark far beyond the shores of Cuba. From his early rupture with the United States, his embrace of socialism and his alliance with the Soviet Union - which led to the Bay of Pigs invasion and then to the Cuban missile crisis - to his long-term sponsorship of Marxist revolution in Latin America and Africa, Fidel's challenge to US hegemony abroad ultimately redefined the cold war

Fidel's international political relevance may have dwindled since the days of superpower confrontation, but his very survival made him one of the world's elder statesmen, and also one of its most widely admired. The US trade embargo on Cuba - a bully-boy legacy of the cold war that is now 46 years old to the month and counting - has only added to Fidel's cheering section, as well as inspiring others to follow his "Mouse That Roared" example. Most prominent among them is Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, who has made it abundantly clear that he intends to emulate Fidel by vigorously defying US policies, in Venezuela and around the world

At home in Cuba, meanwhile, Fidel's revolution has been a political, social and economic experiment that has arguably succeeded in some ways and failed disastrously in many others, guaranteeing that his domestic legacy will be both contentious and, perhaps, as long- lasting as his rule

There are many Cubans who are genuinely devoted to Fidel and who dread the uncertainties his eventual death will bring. His younger brother, Raul, has quietly assumed his anointed role as Fidel's successor. This has already provided a sort of continuity, but Raul's age of 76 means that he will be only a transitional figure, and so Cuba's future remains an open question

There are also many other Cubans who have dreamed for years of Fidel's demise, convinced that fate has dealt them a heavy hand by turning over their lives to this particularly obstinate, egocentric and durable man. Under Fidel, their lives have been spent in a kind of suffocating reality warp, a uniquely Cuban realm in which time simultaneously stands still and progresses, see-sawing among dramatic episodes linked inextricably to Fidel's whim and will. Because Fidel has always seen himself, his countrymen and Cuba itself as engaged in a heroic struggle - for socialism, against imperialism, in defence of national sovereignty and so on - it has been, somehow, so. Because of his constant exaltation of the Cuban humdrum as vital to the ongoing struggle for the survival of the revolution, there is a collective sense of significance to everyday life in Cuba

In 2005, for instance, after Fidel launched a national energy-saving campaign, his government imported a huge quantity of Chinese pressure cookers and began to distribute them to Cubans at subsidised prices. Thereafter, Fidel gave speech after televised speech explaining Cuba's energy woes and arguing that the cookers' fuel efficiency made their purchase a virtual patriotic duty. It is hard to imagine anyone but Fidel being able to turn a kitchen appliance into an item of urgent national priority, but he managed it

With similar degrees of passion dedicated by Fidel to everything from mosquito-eradication drives - "the battle against dengue" - to the battle to "preserve the conquests of socialism", daily existence came to feel at once portentous and, often, very desolate for Cubans, because skirmishes in the great revolution are endless and the perfect future never seems to arrive

As Fidel has withdrawn, not only his loyalists miss him but, I suspect, his opponents too. With the eclipse of his era, so too passes the shared epic quality of their own lives, however much they have suffered. The next blow will be his death, and inevitably, the downsizing of history in Cuba and, perhaps, of Cuba itself. If for the last 49 years Fidel was Cuba, what will Cuba be without him?

Every Cuban understands that Fidel's resignation, even his death, will not necessarily end their nation's long stand-off with the United States and that, in one way or another, Cuba's future will be, as it has always been, shaped directly or indirectly by decisions made in Washington

A couple of years ago, Caleb McCarry, the Bush administration's appointee to the post of "Cuba transition coordinator," told me that even if Raul Castro took steps to open up Cuba's economy, such as China has done, it wouldn't alter US policy toward Cuba. "Economic freedoms are important," said McCarry, "but there has to be political freedom too - multiparty democracy. Ultimately, that is what will help Cubans face the legacy of the dictatorship they've lived under and to define a future where reconciliation and freedom is possible. In other words, the solution is a genuine transition which returns sovereignty to the Cuban people, to allow them to decide who their leaders will be." In the absence of that, the administration would "continue to offer a real transition in Cuba, and we will remain firm with the regime"

Such open talk in Washington about promoting "regime change" strikes most of the Cubans I know, including Fidel's detractors, as gallingly interventionist. But this is nothing new; such talk is, in fact, as old as Cuba's nationhood, which was itself brought about by US intervention during the Spanish-American War. With Cuban independence came a mostly unbroken succession of pro-American regimes, some of them cravenly so

Long before he became a socialist, Fidel was an ardent Cuban nationalist who conceived of his revolution as the restorative antidote to his country's history of Yankee midwifery. Later, he came to believe that he and his revolution had finally secured full Cuban national sovereignty - or, as he often referred to it, its "dignity" - by standing up to the United States and by surviving

In a conversation we had in 2006, Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba's National Assembly, suggested that Cuba's independence was the most important achievement of Fidel and his revolution. But Alarcon also appeared worried that in the future, after Fidel, Cuba's sovereignty might not be so secure

He said: "We have a basic dilemma that is kind of unparalleled, and you know why? Because we will always be a small country, and the other one - yours [the US] - will always be a big one. Big. Independently of whatever problems you might have in Iraq, or with your economy, and all of that, the fact is that you are a great power and Cuba is a small country. These are two realities that you can't change: the great disproportion between the two nations, and their geographical proximity, which for us is everything

"You know what our great problem is? That you look, and what you see is an unequal game; you don't have a way of ever really competing, so all you can do is bet on the idea that someday in the United States, there will be a government that is motivated by other ideas, other attitudes."

Time will tell. Each of the US presidential candidates responded to Castro's resignation with a chorus of calls for more freedom in Cuba. Barack Obama said the US should be ready to normalise relations if Havana "begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change". For now, though, after 50 years of revolution and 81 years of life, Fidel is almost gone, and Cuba and the United States remain where they have always been - separated by sea, 90 miles apart

© Jon Lee Anderson

Castro's legacy: Some loved him, others fled








By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor
Last Updated: 6:24pm GMT 20/02/2008
Telegraph.co.uk


Two popular images dominated the world's perception of Cuba under Fidel Castro's 49-year rule.

One was of a skilled doctor dispensing care to the poor; another depicted thousands of desperate boat people fleeing the island's poverty and repression for new lives in America, often dying in the attempt
These contrasting images summed up Castro's legacy for Cuba's 11 million people
His one-party state jailed dissidents, ruined the economy and led hundreds of thousands to flee to America

Yet Castro's social welfare system won him the popular support

Universal education, almost guaranteed employment and quality health care were the Communist leader's great achievements

They were savoured all the more because they occurred without Western aid and in the teeth of an American economic embargo first imposed in 1961

Castro could boast that, according to World Bank figures, infant mortality in Cuba was seven per 1,000 live births, compared with 30 in the Caribbean as a whole, and primary school enrolment on his island was close to 100 per cent

Castro managed to preserve Cuba's welfare system despite the economic crisis caused by the loss of support from the former Soviet Union

The sudden disappearance of preferential trading rights and an annual subsidy of at least £2 billion wiped out 35 per cent of Cuba's entire economy between 1989 and 1993

advertisementThis compelled Castro to introduce limited free market reforms, masterminded by Carlos Lage Davila, the secretary of the Council of Ministers, the Cuban government, who may eventually succeed the old dictator's 76-year-old brother, Raul, as president

Deprived of the chance to vote against Castro in free elections, hundreds of thousands of Cubans voted with their feet - or rather their paddles - by fleeing across the 90 miles of ocean to Florida

About 125,000 made this journey in six months in 1980, leaving from the port of Mariel

Castro's response to the Mariel Boatlift, as this episode came to be known, was instructive

The official media vilified those who had chosen new lives in America. One state newspaper called them "criminals, lumpen and anti-social elements, loafers and parasites"

When 10,000 Cubans sought asylum in the grounds of the Peruvian embassy, the regime called them "scum" and organised protests outside their homes

Castro's view of Cuba's people was far from benign. Those who rejected him were vilified, while those who backed him were patronised

Prof Sebastian Balfour, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that Castro held an "elitist" view of political leadership

"It is the leader who makes the decisions on behalf of the people and the people don't have the ability yet to make the right decisions. Instead, exemplary leaders must make the decisions," he said

"Introducing liberal democracy, in the eyes of the Cuban leadership, would be to subvert the nation and this model of leadership."

Cuba's regime controls every newspaper, television channel and radio station and restricts access to the internet. Schools and government offices are allowed to link to the web, most private homes are not

Cuba's jails hold at least 58 "prisoners of conscience" at present. Amnesty International said that it receives "almost daily reports of political dissidents, independent journalists and critics being arrested for carrying out dissident activities or reporting on the human rights situation in Cuba and sent to prison where they await trial. In some cases they wait for months or even years while in others they are tried and sentenced within a few days."

Under Cuban law, dissidents can be jailed for "social dangerousness", which does not require them to commit any specific offence

Instead, mere "proclivity to commit a crime", such as showing "contempt to the figure of Fidel Castro", can lead to jail

Alternatively, the victim might be sentenced to "re-education" or "surveillance by the Revolutionary National Police"

If most Cubans kept their faith in Castro until the end of his political life, he did not reciprocate their goodwill. Like all dictators, he could never suppress his abiding suspicion of his own people

Santiago Portal holds a sign that reads, " Fidel is dead, I want change," as he reacts in Miami's Little Havana section to the news that Cuban President Fidel Castro announced he will not accept a new term in office

لقد نجح هذا البوست الى حد كبير في طرح وجهة نظر الفرب
و تحديدا الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في ثورة شعب و قائد
ضد نظام فاشي لا يختلف فيه اثنان.
نجح هذا البوست الى حد كبير في عكس ما حاول كل الآعلام الغربي تحقيقه
في نصف قرن من الزمان.
الا أن هذا النجاح محدود جدا و لا يعتقد أحد أن يكون لما حققه هذا البوست
رد فعل في الاعلام الغربي لآن كل ما ذكر فيه من حقائق اقتباس من الاعلام الغربي
و لا يتوقع أي عاقل غير هذا من اعلام غربي و نظام غربي فشل طوال نصف قرن من الزمان
التخلص من نظام ثوري في جزيرة صغيرة على مرمى حجر من أكبر قوة عسكرية تعيث في
الأرض فسادا....
الأمل كبير في الشعب الكوبي ( رغم المعاناة اقتصاديا ) و القيادة الجديدة في مواصلة
المسيرة لنصف قرن آخر...و أن لا تعطي الفرصة للحيوانات المفترسة الأمريكية من افتراس
هذه الجزيرة...
كفاكم ترديد ما في الاعلام الغربي كالببغاء....
تفرغوا لقضايا وطننا الجريح يا هؤلاء......

شوقي حمزة

"الشعب الكوبى فى ظل هذا النظام يعانى الفقر والمرض. معظم الاسر تعتمد على تحويلات المهاجرين من ابناءها. والهجرة اصبحت حلم كل كوبى حتى لو اقترنت بالمخاطرة وركوب القوارب البدائية فى المحيط الهائج. المبانى التى شيدها الروس اصبحت ايلة للسقوط بفعل التعرية اضافة لعدم المقدرة على الصيانة."


أستأذ مهأجر

ففر شنو و مرض شنو ألبيعأنى به ألشعب ألكوبى. سوف آعطيك مثألأ حيأ من إحصأءت ألأمم ألمتحدة:
معدل موت ألأطفأل عند ألولأدة فى كوبأ: 5.1
معدل موت ألأطفأل تحت ألسن ألخأمس فى كوبأ: 6.5
معدل موت ألأطفأل عند ألولأدة فى أمريكأ:6.3
معدل موت ألأطفأل تحت ألسن ألخأمس فى ألولأيأت ألمتحدة: 7.5
متوسط ألعمر فى كوبأ : 78.3
متوسط ألعمر فى ألولأيأت ألمتحدة: 78.2
No فى حد بدون مأوى فى كوبأ, مأ فى حد بموت فيهأ بألجوع و ألأمية مأ بعرفوأ بتعنى شنو.جأمعتهأ من أقدم جأمعأت ألعألم. مأ عندهم مليونيرأت لكن كل ألشعب بيعش عيشة كريمة. آهأ قأرن بلدنأ ألسودأن فى أى شى مع كوبأ و بعد دأك ممكن نتحأور.

Triumphant Fidel Castro entering Havana on New Year's Day, 1959 as Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country

Fidel Castro, left, and the legendary revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara who was assassinated in Bolivia in 1967

Castro during the Bay of Pigs, the first serious attempt by the US to overthrow him in 1961, when Cuban exiles armed and funded by America launched a horribly botched invasion

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Satellite images of nuclear missiles secretly placed in Cuba by the Soviets in 1962. Their discovery brought the world to the brink of nuclear war

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is another key Cuban ally and vocal leftist Latin American leader

Castro shocked onlookers when he fell during a speech in 2004 and broke his kneecap

With his cigar and his military fatigues, Fidel Castro became an icon, celebrating 49 years of revolution in Cuba

Castro and his brother Raul. Raul is expected to retain day-to-day control of Cuba for now, since Fidel announced his resignation

English language edition of the newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party



http://www.granma.cu/ingles/

Reflections of Fidel





What I wrote on Tuesday 19

THAT Tuesday, there was no fresh international news. My modest message to the people of Monday, February 18 had no problem being widely circulated. I began to receive news from 11:00 a.m. The previous night I slept like never before. My conscience was at rest and I had promised myself a vacation. The days of tension, with the proximity of February 24, left me exhausted

Today I shall not say anything about people in Cuba and the world who are close and who expressed their emotions in thousands of different ways. I also received a large number of comments collected from people on the street via confirmed methods who, almost without exception, and spontaneously, voiced their most profound sentiments of solidarity. One day I shall approach that subject

At this point I am dedicating myself to the adversaries. I enjoyed watching the embarrassing position of all the candidates for the United States presidency. One by one they were obliged to announce their immediate demands of Cuba in order not to risk losing a single voter. Not that I am a Pulitzer Prize winner interrogating them on CNN on the most delicate political and even personal matters from Las Vegas, where the logic of chance of the roulette rules and where one has to make ones humble presence if aspiring to be president

Half a century of blockade seemed little enough to the favorites. "Change, change, change!" they cried in unison

I am in agreement, change! but in the United States. Cuba changed a long while ago and will follow its dialectical route. "No return to the past ever!" exclaim our people

"Annexation, annexation, annexation!" responds the adversary; that is what they are really thinking deep down about when they talk of change

Breaking the secret of his silent struggle, Martí denounced the voracious and expansionist empire discovered and described by his brilliant intelligence more than one century after the revolutionary declaration of independence of the 13 colonies

The end of one stage is not the same as the beginning of the end of an unsustainable system

Immediately, the diminished European powers allied to that system, began to pronounce the same demands. In their judgment, the hour had come to dance to the music of the democracy and freedom that, since the times of Torquemada, they have never really known. The colonization and neo-colonization of entire continents, from which they extract energy, raw materials and a cheap workforce, morally disqualify them

An extremely illustrious Spanish figure, previously minister of culture and an impeccable socialist, today and for some time now a spokesman on arms and war, is the synthesis of pure wrong. Kosovo and the unilateral declaration of independence is hitting them at this time like an impertinent nightmare

People of flesh and blood with U.S. and NATO uniforms are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The memory of the USSR, disintegrated in part due to its interventionist adventure in the latter of the two countries, haunts the Europeans like a shadow

Bush Sr. is backing McCain as his candidate, while Bush Jr., in a country of Africa – yesterday the origin of humankind and a martyr continent today – and where nobody knows what he is doing, said that my message was the beginning of Cuba’s road to freedom; in other words, the annexation decreed by his government in a voluminous and enormous text

The day before, international television showed a group of latest-generation bombers executing spectacular maneuvers, with the complete guarantee that bombs of any type could be launched without radars detecting the aircraft carriers, and this is not even considered to be war crime

A protest was made by important countries in relation to the imperial idea of testing a weapon on the pretext of avoiding the possible fall over the territory of another country of a spy satellite – one of the many artifacts that, for military purposes, the United States has sent into orbit of the planet

I was thinking of not writing a reflection for at least 10 days, but I had no right to keep quiet for so long. I revised it yesterday and today, Thursday, will hand it over. I have insistently asked for my reflections to be published on Page 2 or any other page of our newspapers, never on the front page, and to give simple summaries in the other media if they are extensive

I am now absorbed in the effort of confirming my united vote for the President of the National Assembly and the new Council of State and how to do that

I thank my readers for your patient wait



Fidel Castro Ruz
February 21, 2008
6:34 p.m

Translated by Granma International


English language edition of the newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party

http://www.granma.cu/ingles/

People stand in the shade as others line up to buy the local newspapers in Havana

A woman attends her plants on the balcony of her home in Havana

A Cuban just married couple ride in a Ford Edsel 58 near the waterfront in Havana

Cuban medical students pass by a huge placard depicting former President Fidel Castro in Havana

Cubans walking along a street of Havana

Vice President Carlos Lage



A dark horse in the race to succeed the outgoing Fidel Castro, Vice President Carlos Lage, 56, nevertheless embodies a new generation of leaders charged with reforming Cuba's communist regime. lthough the firm favorite remains Fidel's brother Raul Castro, who inherited the interim presidency following the leader's operation in July 2006, Lage -- a pediatrician known more for his soft-spoken temperament than for great speeches -- also appears a decidedly credible candidate

Diabetes patients sit in a hallway while a nurse prepares treatments at the Salvador Allende hospital in Havana. A new Cuban drug that cures diabetic foot ulcers which can result in amputation is being applied across the country and exported. Heberprot-P proved 53 percent effective in curing the ulcers and 63 percent effective in preventing amputations during clinical trials last year with patients who experienced no results with other treatments, its producers reported. Diabetic ulcers are the leading cause of non-traumatic foot amputations in the world

A model parades during a fashion show to commemorate Havana's 488 th anniversary

Models get ready prior to a Cuban designers fashion show to commemorate Havana's 488 th anniversary

A model presents a dress made out of recycled paper on a street in Havana November 17, 2007. A group of paper artists staged a fashion show on a street in Old Havana in celebration of the 488th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Havana

A model presents a dress, made out of recycled paper, on a street in Havana November 17, 2007. A group of paper artists staged a fashion show on a street in Old Havana in celebration of the 488th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Havana

A cargo ship reaches the open sea after leaving the port of Havana

A Cuban garbage collector pushes his dustbins in Havana's waterfront,as tropical storm Noel approaches the island

Cubans stand in Havana's waterfront on October 30th, 2007, as tropical storm Noel approaches the island

Cuban students throwing flowers in the ocean to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the death of the Cuban revolutionary Commander Camilo Cienfuegos in Havana
Cienfuegos' Cessna plane disappeared over the water on a nighttime flight and he is presumed to have died in a crash

A young man smokes in front of his house

Cubans enjoy Havana's waterfront

A Cuban family watches as Cuban President Fidel Castro speaks on television

Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore discusses concerns that the Bush administration is behind a federal investigation into his trip to Cuba to make the documentary, "Sicko" at a news conference . Moore is under investigation by The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for potentially having violated the U.S. trade embargo which restricts travel to Cuba

People hold portraits of victims of the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner during a remembrance ceremony outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. In May 2005, the U.S. took custody of Posada Carriles after he entered the country. Carriles is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela where he is accused of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people

Filmmaker Michael Moore, right, walks with unidentified subjects of his new documentary, "Sicko", on location in Cuba. Moore's latest documentary takes aim at the U.S. health care industry, private insurance and pharmaceutical companies and HMOs while praising socialized medicine in other countries

ثروت
صبحى الحديدى من اروع اهل اليسار العرب, له نظرة من زاوية مغايرة

Quote: في تحية الرفيق كاسترو صبحي حديدي 25/02/2008 قبل عقد كامل من السنوات، وفي مناسبة زيارة البابا يوحنا بولس الثاني التاريخية إلي كوبا، وضع أحد ثقاة المعلّقين الأمريكيين، جيم هوغلاند، رهانات قصوي علي ذلك الحدث المشهود، وذهب إلي درجة التنبؤ بأنّ الزيارة سوف تعجّل بسقوط فيديل كاسترو. أكثر من ذلك، اختار هوغلاند ذلك التفاؤل الذي لا يمكن أن توفّره إلا أبراج التنجيم، فاعتبر أنّ الحدث أفضل ما يمكن أن تقدمه كرة الكريستال السحرية إلي أولئك الحالمين بسنة جديدة معطاءة! البعض، من خصوم كوبا وأصدقائها علي حدّ سواء، رأوا أنّ العكس قد يكون هو الصحيح في الواقع، لأنّ الزيارة يمكن أن تنقلب إلي مسمار جديد يُدقّ في نعش الحصار الأمريكي المفروض علي الجزيرة الصغيرة منذ نحو أربعة عقود. ولقد جادل هؤلاء بأنّ هذا البابا تحديداً لا ينتمي إلي تراث الحرب الباردة ولم يكن حليفاً لأقطابها في أيّ يوم، وهو تالياً لن يسعي إلي إشعال فصل جديد من حرب وضعت أوزارها وتجاوزتها العلاقات الدولية بسبب من غياب الخصم أو اندثاره شبه التام. ومن جانب آخر كانت الكنيسة الكاثوليكية تعرف أنّ المجيء إلي الجزيرة علي رأس جيش إيماني لن يصطدم بالجيوش الماركسية ـ اللينينية وحدها، بل بجيوش عشرات العقائد الإيمانية الأخري التي تتعايش في الجزيرة، وتبدأ من الوثنية والتقمّص والشامانية والـ فودو الأسود، ولا تنتهي عند تنويعات البروتستانتية واليسوعية و اللاهوت الثوري الذي اشتهرت به أمريكا اللاتينية. كذلك كانت الكنيسة تعرف، من جانب ثالث، أنّ إنجازات الثورة الكوبية (محو الأمية، الإصلاح الزراعي، تطوير صناعة السكر، الثورة الثقافية...) أعطت أُكلها، بمعدّلات لم يكن ينتظرها أعتي خبراء البيت الأبيض والوكالة المركزية وأجهزة الإستخبارات الأمريكية الأخري. وحجم المبادلات الكوبية مع أوروبا الغربية برهن علي حيوية مدهشة ومرونة متقدمة، خصوصاً إذا ما قيس بما آلت إليه الإقتصادات الأخري للدول الاشتراكية سابقاً، حيث جري فرض اقتصاد السوق قسراً، بوحي العقيدة وليس استناداً إلي أيّ منطق اقتصادي سليم. ونظام كاسترو ليس ديمقراطياً وفق معايير الحدّ الأدني من أيّ تعريف سليم متفق عليه لمفهوم الديمقراطية، وهو أقرب إلي دكتاتورية الحزب الواحد والحاكم الأوحد في كلّ ما يخصّ حرّيات كبري مثل التعبير والصحافة والتظاهر والتعددية الحزبية والقضاء المستقلّ. ولكن إذا أخذ المرء بعين الاعتبار حجم المصاعب الخارجية التي تعرضت لها كوبا، ليس بعد انهيار المعسكر الإشتراكي فحسب، بل قبل هذا التحوّل الكوني بسنوات طويلة، فإن سجلّ نظام كاسترو يترك انطباعات حسنة تحسده عليها الغالبية الساحقة من أنظمة العالم الثالث التي سُمّيت ذات يوم ثورية أو تحرّرية أو تقدّمية . وعلي الصعيد الإيديولوجي لم يتضح أبداً أنّ كاسترو خسر الكثير من جرّاء سقوط النظام السوفييتي أو المعسكر الإشتراكي بأسره، لأنه أصلاً كان حالة وسيطة بين اللينينية الرومانسية، والماوية الثقافية، والبلانكية المعقلنة. وساعة وصول البابا إلي مطار هافانا كان في وسع الزعيم الكوبي أن يضحك في عبّه علي مشهدين متناقضين ـ متكاملين: الرأسماليات الغربية وهي تتسابق علي خطب ودّ الصين واختطاف ما يمكن توقيعه من عقود مع اقتصادها الذي يتنامي مثل تنّين خرافي، والرأسماليات ذاتها وهي تتملص من أعباء العلاقة مع روسيا بوريس يلتسين واقتصادها الذي يترنح مثل فلاّح موجيك خائر القوي، ذهبت الفودكا الرديئة بعقله وجسده. ولعلّ هذه الأسباب كانت وراء إنحياز الكنيسة إلي القيام بدور إجتماعي إيجابي في النهاية، لا يمارس ألعاب مركز القوّة الموازي/المناهض، بل يحاول احتلال موقع وسيط بين سلطة الرفيق كاسترو وسلطة الرفيق الدولار . ومن المعروف أنّ هذا الرفيق الثاني صار سلطة فعلية يومية منذ القرار الدراماتيكي الذي اتخذه كاسترو في عام 1993، والذي أجاز التعامل بالورقة الخضراء. والكنيسة كانت تعرف، ربما أفضل من جميع خصوم كوبا علي اختلاف مشاربهم ومصالحهم، أنّ المعركة العقائدية مع الرفيقين متساوية في الشراسة، خصوصاً وأنّ أحدهما بشر من لحم ودم (ويمكن بالتالي التعامل مع ردود أفعاله علي نحو إنساني آدمي)، والثاني ورق لا دين له ولا مذهب ولا رائحة! النبوءات ذهبت أدراج الرياح، إذاً، الآن إذْ يتقاعد كاسترو استجابة لضغوطات رفيق ، أو ربما بابا ، واحد وحيد هو الشيخوخة، وأثقال 82 سنة، بينها نصف قرن كامل في قيادة الثورة الكوبية، ومساندة حركات التحرّر في أمريكا اللاتينية، ومجابهة عشرة رؤساء أمريكيين (أيزنهاور، كنيدي، جونسون، نكسون، كارتر، بوش الأب، كلنتون، وبوش الابن)، وموقعة ملحمية أسفرت عن هزيمة نكراء للولايات المتحدة في خليج الخنازير ، وأزمة بين الجبّارين كادت تشعل أوار الحرب العالمية الثالثة... النووية. وبصرف النظر عن اختلاف المرء، في الجوهر أيضاً، مع النظام السياسي الذي يخلّفه كاسترو اليوم، فإنّ من المبهج للمرء ذاته أن يقول: لا عزاء لأمثال هوغلاند وسائر الشاخصين إلي كرات الكريستال، وتقاعد هاديء للرفيق كاسترو، هذا الثوري الشيخ النقيّ الصامد.

Cuba's new president Raul Castro gives a speech after being elected to succeed his brother Fidel Castro by the Cuban national assembly

A man arranges bread at a bakery next to an image of Cuba's retired leader Fidel Castro and a revolution message in Havana

People walk past a photograph of Cuba's newly elected President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel in Havana

The new first vice-president of Cuba, Jose Ramon Machado

Cuba's new President, Raul Castro (L), and new vice president, Juan Almeida (R), shout pro-Fidel slogans at the end of the Cuban national assembly

Cuba's national assembly named Raúl Castro as head of state



Low-key succession points to regime's grip on power

Economic liberalisation expected from new leader

The Guardian, Monday February 25 2008



Cuba's national assembly named Raúl Castro as head of state last night, formally ending 49 years of Fidel Castro's dominance

The 614-member body accepted the 76-year-old defence minister and constitutionally designated successor as the candidate to take over from his elder brother, a transfer of power which was rubber-stamped in a vote last night

The mood in the chamber was business-like and betrayed little outward sense of drama or history in the making, a deliberate effort to project continuity

The streets of Havana were quiet as people absorbed the latest step in Fidel's withdrawal from public life, a choreographed transition initiated 19 months ago when he provisionally ceded power to undergo emergency intestinal surgery. Last week the convalescing 81-year-old said he would not accept another term as president

Raúl, who has headed a caretaker government, was given a standing ovation by the assembly before the vote that confirmed him as head of state and government. The assembly was also due to name a 31-member council of state which will form a de facto cabinet

The dearth of suspense underscored the communist regime's control over the island and its 11 million people, many of whom hanker for relief from poverty harsher than that experienced in eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall

Exiles in Miami who for decades have dreamed of Fidel's exit did not dance in the streets or set off fireworks, saying jubilation would have to wait for his death and the regime's crumbling.

The Bush administration called on Havana to end repression and move towards democracy, an implicit acknowledgment that its Caribbean foe was firmly in control and retained the initiative despite Washington's economic embargo

"We urge the Cuban government to begin a process of peaceful, democratic change by releasing all political prisoners, respecting human rights and creating a clear pathway toward free and fair elections," Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, said in a statement

It remains unclear to what extent Fidel will retain influence. He remains the leader of the Communist party and an assembly member and still writes newspaper editorials, though the byline has changed from "Commander in Chief" to "Comrade Fidel"

The mention of his name prompted a standing ovation in the assembly. The assembly, whose members are elected from a list fixed by the authorities, traditionally has been a rubber-stamp for the "maximum commandante", who has ruled since the 1959 revolution

Under a new president the assembly and especially the council of state are expected to wield more power. Raúl, a military man and administrator who has long shunned the limelight, is believed to favour a Chinese-type economic liberalisation to ease poverty without loosening political control. He has encouraged debate and criticism of the system, raising expectations that a focus on delivering better food, transport and housing rather than ideological rhetoric will characterise his rule. Under Raúl the military has taken control of much of the economy and embedded so-called "Raúlista" senior officers in political power

Yet since taking over as caretaker leader the younger Castro has attempted few reforms, possibly because his older brother and other ideological purists have applied the brakes, arguing that economic support from oil-rich Venezuela would permit a return to core communism

"It is impossible to predict the path that Cuba will follow," said Moises Naim, of Foreign Policy magazine. "The most likely scenario is a messy hybrid that continues with much of the current policies and politics but where different approaches are periodically tested, embraced or discarded." Some analysts had speculated that the assembly may skip a generation and elevate Ricardo Alarcón, the assembly speaker ahead of Raúl. But in the first round of voting Alarcón was unanimously nominated for re-election to his post

Delagtes of the National Assembly approve that the ballot box has been taken to Fidel Castro to cast his vote February 24, 2008 at the Convention Palace in Havana

Delagtes of the National Assembly applaud for the absent President Fidel Castro as his name is mentioned

Cuban deputies vote for President of the National Assambly in Havana on February 24, 2008. Cuba's National Assembly met Sunday to pick a successor to Fidel Castro

Cuban's President Raul Castro (bottom), Vice President Juan Almeida (in uniform), Vice President Jose Ramon Machado (beige suit, with spectacles) and Vice President Carlos Lage (R) read the names of the candidates at Cuba's National Assembly

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) rides a horse.Chavez was the first Chief of State to congratulate Cuba's new president, Raul Castro on Sunday, and said his brother Fidel Castro remained the country's comandante

Fidel is Fidel





Defence minister wins unanimous assembly vote
Hardline veteran elected deputy president


The Guardian, Monday February 25 2008


Cuba's national assembly unanimously named Raúl Castro as head of state last night, formally ending almost half a century of Fidel Castro's rule

The 76-year-old defence minister took power in a choreographed ceremony of party unity which cast his brother in the role of revered, but no longer omnipotent, oracle of the revolution

As the constitutionally-designated successor, Raúl's appointment was expected but the elevation of an ideological hardliner as his deputy was a surprise. José Ramón Machado, a 77-year-old veteran of Fidel's Sierra Maestra guerrilla campaign, was promoted ahead of young potential reformers
In his first speech as leader Raúl, in a suit and tie instead of his usual fatigues, promised to consult Fidel on important decisions of state. "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution is unique. Fidel is Fidel, as we all know well, he is irreplaceable," he said

The new president said the Communist party would ensure socialism outlasted Fidel and his generation. "The mandate of this legislature is clear ... to continue strengthening the revolution at a historic moment. This conviction has particular importance when the founding and forging generation of the revolution is disappearing," he said

The mood in the 614-seat chamber betrayed little sense of drama or history in the making in an effort to project normality and continuity. The streets of Havana were quiet as people absorbed the latest step in Fidel's withdrawal from public life, a transition initiated 19 months ago when he provisionally ceded power to undergo emergency intestinal surgery. Last week the convalescing 81-year-old said he would not accept another term as president

Raúl, who has headed a caretaker government, was given a standing ovation by the assembly before being confirmed as head of state and government. The assembly was also due to name a 31-member council of state

The dearth of suspense underscored the authorities' tight control over the island and its 11 million people, many of whom hanker for relief from poverty harsher than that experienced in eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin wall

The Bush administration called on Havana to move towards democracy, an implicit acknowledgment that Cuba retained the initiative despite Washington's economic embargo

"We urge the Cuban government to begin a process of peaceful, democratic change by releasing all political prisoners, respecting human rights and creating a clear pathway toward free and fair elections," Condoleeza Rice, the secretary of state, said in a statement

It remains unclear to what extent Fidel will retain influence. He is still leader of the Communist party and an assembly member and writes newspaper editorials, though the byline has changed from Commander in Chief to Comrade Fidel

The mention of his name last night prompted a standing ovation. The assembly, whose members are elected from a list fixed by the authorities, traditionally has been a rubber stamp for the "maximum commandante" who ruled like a colossus since the 1959 revolution

Under Raúl, who has a collegiate style, the council of state is expected to wield more power. The president, who has long shunned the limelight, is believed to favour a Chinese-type economic liberalisation to improve living standards without loosening political control. He has encouraged criticism of the system, raising expectations that delivering better food, transport and housing rather than rhetoric would characterise his rule

Under Raúl the military has taken control of much of the economy by managing farms, tourist resorts and other businesses, embedding so-called "Raúlista" senior officers in political power and smoothing the transition

Yet since taking over the younger Castro has attempted few reforms, possibly because ideological purists in the government have applied the brakes, arguing that support from oil-rich Venezuela would permit a return to core communism

رجاء
جوليا
زكريا
محجوب

شكرا للمساهمات

اتمنى أن أجد وقت و تركيز وسط الزحمة و التشتت لاعود إليكم

لكم الود

الاخ/ ثروت
لك التحية
لقد حاولت مرارا ان انقل لك الخبر خلال ال(74) ساعة الماضية، اذكاءا لنار بوستك القيم. لان العنوان براهو حدث مهم نحن في انتظاره نصف قرن؟ خاصة في بلداننا. ولكني كنت محبطا جدا، فلقد كنت مرابطا كالعادة في متابعة الاخبار، وفي زحمة متابعاتي للاخبار، كنت الحظ بين الحين والاخر، نتائج اجتماعات السادة ابوات الرقيع الركيع في مجلس الجمعية الترقيعية للسيد/ فيديل كاسترو واشقاؤه ليمتد.
لافاجا بانهم قد رقعوها وتوكلوا بالركوع للسيد/ راؤول ادام الله له مع مديد من العمر له وللسادة ابورقواته ادامهم الله له. ولقد فكرت جديا في نعي الشعب الكوبى الشقيق الذى اصبح الباب مغلقا باحكام لخيارين لاثالث لهما، واحلاهما مر: وهي اما تطبيق نظرية السيد/ عادل امام في ان يمارسوا حقهم في الانتحار الجماعي، وليذهب راؤول الي الصين الشعبية الاشتراكية....ألخ او حتي الي الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الاشتراكية....الخ
وكلها تؤدى او تمر بالسعودية ما في فرق كتير...!!
او ان يبقي الشعب الكوبي في غوانتينامو حقيقي، فالجزيرة كلها عبارة عن غوانتينامو الشعبية الاشتراكية؟
ولكني وبدون عناء كبير في التفكير سرعان ما خرجت عن هذا النفخ وقلت: كدة بطل حركات النفخ علي حساب حريات الاخرين، انت وضعك في السودان اسوا مايكون، وان الحريات في شوارع لندن ليس من انجازك ولا بتاع ابوك، ولا شغل حصاد اجدادك؟ وان رؤساء احزابك السياسية المنادين بالديمقراطية والتداول السلمي للسلطة.
اقل ما فيهم هو يتسنم رئاسة الحزب السياسي اربعون عاما. كما هو الحال في كوبا بالضبط واسوا؟ بدءا بالحزب الشيوعي السوداني، والحزبين بتاع السيدين الجليلين وابنائهم وابناء ابنائهم وكل ذويهم وذرياتهم وابوات الرقيع بتاعنهم والتابعينهم باحسان الي يوم الدين. بالاضافة الي السادة اخوان الشياطين، كما اسماهم صانعهم الدكتاتور/النميري في اواخر ايام عهده المباد.
ففيماالجزع في غوانتينامو كوبا الاشتراكية؟! وعلي الاقل هناك تقدر تقول الاشتراكية بصوت عالي كدليل انك تقر مبدا الشراكة مع الاخرين حتي ولو كانوا غيابا. او في طريقهم الي فلوريدا. ياخي والله ديل ما تركونا حتي نتكلم في الاخرين . اخرسونا خلصونا جيلا بعد جيل وما قادرين نخلص من واحد منهم؟! حاجة تحير حقا؟!
وفي الواقع انا قد بحثت وحسب علمي المتواضع، لا يوجد في الدنيا اليوم حزب سياسى طليعي، ينشد الحرية والديمقراطية وحقوق الانسان. يتولي رئاسته شخص لمدة تزيد عن الاربعون عاما ولايفكر حتي في التنحي؟ بالاضافة الي عائلته واخوانه،ونسايبو،ومحاسيبو، ليمتد؟!
تقريبا لا يوجد هذه الحالة في العالم كله اليوم الا في السودان؟ بالله مش حاجة غريبة ومقرفة؟! ونحن في القرن الواحد والعشرين؟ بالله ديل نحولهم بشنو؟
تفتكر زلزال بحجم تسونامى بتزيلهم؟ لا اعتقد؟!
تحياتي

في الحقيقة نوعية نقد و حزبه الشمولي و البعث و بقية اليسار البائس ما خلو لينا وجه ننتقد بيهو كوبا و فيدل و اخوه المخرف.

فهم في الخرف كلهم هم و شرق.. و تسلط.

Quote: ولكني وبدون عناء كبير في التفكير سرعان ما خرجت عن هذا النفخ وقلت: كدة بطل حركات النفخ علي حساب حريات الاخرين، انت وضعك في السودان اسوا مايكون، وان الحريات في شوارع لندن ليس من انجازك ولا بتاع ابوك، ولا شغل حصاد اجدادك؟ وان رؤساء احزابك السياسية المنادين بالديمقراطية والتداول السلمي للسلطة. اقل ما فيهم هو يتسنم رئاسة الحزب السياسي اربعون عاما. كما هو الحال في كوبا بالضبط واسوا؟ بدءا بالحزب الشيوعي السوداني، والحزبين بتاع السيدين الجليلين وابنائهم وابناء ابنائهم وكل ذويهم وذرياتهم وابوات الرقيع بتاعنهم والتابعينهم باحسان الي يوم الدين. بالاضافة الي السادة اخوان الشياطين، كما اسماهم صانعهم الدكتاتور/النميري في اواخر ايام عهده المباد.

تحاياي استاذنا عربي